By the time he started directing his own feature films in the early 1970s, Clint Eastwood had already established his trademark 'Man with No Name' screen persona. From his directorial debut onward, it's as if Eastwood used his ability to helm his own projects as a deliberate attempt to undermine the qualities that people knew him for. This tough guy wanted to show the whole world that he too could be vulnerable; he had a sensitive side.
Coming off the heels of his wonderful departure in "Bronco Billy", a film about a band of misfits living in the myth of the old West (I pretend "Firefox" doesn't exist), Eastwood continued to make another left turn in his career with "Honkytonk Man". Eastwood plays Red Stovall, a small time country singer with a bigger alcohol problem in Depression era Oklahoma. At the start of the film, Red literally crashes into his sister's farm in the middle of a dust storm. After settling in, he reveals an audition opportunity at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, and before too long, is on the road to Tennessee with his nephew Whit and his grandfather-in-law played by longtime character actor John McIntire (he played the sheriff in "Psycho").
Whit is the extension of the audience, and this is as much his story as it is Red's. The majority of the film plays like a coming-of-age road movie, with the usual plot devices you might find in such a piece. On the surface, the whole work initially comes off as a vanity project, considering Whit is played by Eastwood's own adolescent son Kyle. He isn't horrible, drifting from scene to scene with his wide-eyed freckle face. Eastwood's singing voice is worse. I've never seen the 1969 western musical "Paint Your Wagon" that featured him singing, and I was surprised to learn that he cut a novelty album in the early 1960s during the height of his "Rawhide" television fame. In "Honkytonk Man", it just sounds like he's whispering while singing and it makes the premise of a prestigious musical audition hard to believe.
The film's greatest virtue is McIntire as the Grandpa, a role originally offered to James Stewart. While I don't want to imagine how wonderful that casting would have been, McIntire pulls a career best performance, and disappears before the final act without much of an explanation, hindering the impact of the final section of the film. In one of the film's most poignant moments, Whit and his Grandpa stare out into the Oklahoma wilderness right after setting out on the road. McIntire's character reminisces about the long gone promised land that Oklahoma was during the 1890s land lotteries. Now, during the Great Depression, that promised land is California, but all he wants is to return home to Tennessee. Whit encourages him to remain hopeful, but McIntire recognizes the limits of his old age, and the fact that the Oklahoma dream never panned out like he thought it would. "It's all turned to dust," he exclaims regrettably.
McIntire is "Honkytonk Man"'s greatest asset, and after the film arrives at its destination and its focus shifts back to the relationship of uncle Red and his nephew Whit, it turns into a well-meaning cringe-fest. Fans of old time country music or Depression era dramas will find a lot to like about this film. If you don't like sentimental Eastwood, then spend the two hours watching a "Dirty Harry" sequel instead.
Coming off the heels of his wonderful departure in "Bronco Billy", a film about a band of misfits living in the myth of the old West (I pretend "Firefox" doesn't exist), Eastwood continued to make another left turn in his career with "Honkytonk Man". Eastwood plays Red Stovall, a small time country singer with a bigger alcohol problem in Depression era Oklahoma. At the start of the film, Red literally crashes into his sister's farm in the middle of a dust storm. After settling in, he reveals an audition opportunity at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, and before too long, is on the road to Tennessee with his nephew Whit and his grandfather-in-law played by longtime character actor John McIntire (he played the sheriff in "Psycho").
Whit is the extension of the audience, and this is as much his story as it is Red's. The majority of the film plays like a coming-of-age road movie, with the usual plot devices you might find in such a piece. On the surface, the whole work initially comes off as a vanity project, considering Whit is played by Eastwood's own adolescent son Kyle. He isn't horrible, drifting from scene to scene with his wide-eyed freckle face. Eastwood's singing voice is worse. I've never seen the 1969 western musical "Paint Your Wagon" that featured him singing, and I was surprised to learn that he cut a novelty album in the early 1960s during the height of his "Rawhide" television fame. In "Honkytonk Man", it just sounds like he's whispering while singing and it makes the premise of a prestigious musical audition hard to believe.
The film's greatest virtue is McIntire as the Grandpa, a role originally offered to James Stewart. While I don't want to imagine how wonderful that casting would have been, McIntire pulls a career best performance, and disappears before the final act without much of an explanation, hindering the impact of the final section of the film. In one of the film's most poignant moments, Whit and his Grandpa stare out into the Oklahoma wilderness right after setting out on the road. McIntire's character reminisces about the long gone promised land that Oklahoma was during the 1890s land lotteries. Now, during the Great Depression, that promised land is California, but all he wants is to return home to Tennessee. Whit encourages him to remain hopeful, but McIntire recognizes the limits of his old age, and the fact that the Oklahoma dream never panned out like he thought it would. "It's all turned to dust," he exclaims regrettably.
McIntire is "Honkytonk Man"'s greatest asset, and after the film arrives at its destination and its focus shifts back to the relationship of uncle Red and his nephew Whit, it turns into a well-meaning cringe-fest. Fans of old time country music or Depression era dramas will find a lot to like about this film. If you don't like sentimental Eastwood, then spend the two hours watching a "Dirty Harry" sequel instead.