I know what you're thinking- I'm such a huge Eastwood fan so my opinion isn't that significant. Honestly though, this has got to be one of the most underrated movies of all time. I laughed harder and had a better time watching this movie than just about any "comedy" I can think of. Clint did an excellent job in a different role for him as a guy who isn't so clever and great with the ladies. His best friend Clyde turned in an awesome performance as well. I also loved Geoffrey Lewis and the gorgeous Beverly D'Angelo and Ruth Gordon does a typically great act as the tough old lady. I agree with an earlier writer with respect to the one negative here- Sondra Locke's acting and singing. The only justification is that in the movie her character is just as bad. I have to believe that even people that aren't major Clint Eastwood fans would still like this one. Big fans should love it.
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Stu-427 January 2000
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Pjtaylor-96-13804412 February 2018Sure, 'Every Which Way But Loose (1978)' is silly, but there's just something inherently endearing about seeing an orangutan and his truck-driving best buddy drink beer, get laid (yes, the ape sees some action) and bare-knuckle brawl their way through bent coppers and members of a Nazi biker gang as they traipse across the country after a girl who's up and vanished with both Eastwood's heart and a fistful (seven thousand) of his Dollars. It is a delightfully light flick. It's brazenly bizarre core concepts are gleefully glossed over to the point of pure passive acceptance on the part of the audience; as such it's highly entertaining throughout. It settles into its loose plot with a relaxed pace that pushes it from fun set-piece to fun set-piece, constantly keeping a smile on your face and burrowing its own private place within your heart. It's an unexpected joy. 7/10
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Robert_duder12 February 2006Every Which Way But Loose seems like it had some history behind it. Eastwood jumped at the script despite the fact that they originally wanted his pal Burt Reynolds to do it, everyone tried to talk him out of it because at the time it was a far stretch from Eastwood's violent, dark, gloomy screen image and further more when all was said and done previewers said the film would tank but it didn't because it's fun. It was made to be fun, just a romp, a good time and heartfelt and all in all it's not that far of a stretch from Eastwood's image because he still kicks some major butt and shows a softer side for sure.
Clint Eastwood plays Philo Beddoe, a fun loving, crazy guy who happens to have a knack and love for street brawling. Along with his best friend/manager Orville Boggs they take in a good amount on bets including Beddoe's win of a rather large, sarcastic, trouble making Oranguatang named Clyde. Despite popular assumption the film really isn't about Clyde and Beddoe but more just about Beddoe and his cross country trip to find the woman of his dreams while being chased down by some folks he made rather angry...two off duty policeman, and a squad of Motorcycle gang members. Eastwood is good in his role because not only is he his typical tough guy, big screen icon but he has a softness to him, he's having a good time and it just makes it fun. Although you're kind of waiting for him to lose it and pull out a magnum on everyone. Veteran character actor Geoffrey Lewis plays Orville Boggs. He's certainly not as tough as Eastwood and yet they make a great team. Hilariously funny, stealing the show is foul mouth Ma Boggs played by Ruth Gordon. She only has a few scenes but it's downright hilarious. And then of course there is Clyde played by Manis. Manis does what you would expect a decent ape to do to make everyone smile. He certainly has some of the laugh out loud moments but he never steals the show the way you might expect. He's just another part of the whole crew. Sondra Locke plays Eastwood's love interest who he travels cross country to find. She's self centered and seemingly determined to outrun Eastwood and I think he could have done better but he was hooked on her. Beverly D'Angelo plays a small role as Echo, Orville's girl who he picks up from a vegetable stand. They make a cute couple and she has some great scenes.
The fight scenes are plenty, the country music is overwhelming and at the time probably a great soundtrack. It's a country film and the quint essential fist fight, street brawl movie. Eastwood is unstoppable and most of the comedy comes from watching him make fools of his rather foolish enemies along with his buddies. It's an adventure comedy that is worth seeing. It's not depthy, or important, or a real slam bang comedy...it's just fun...and that's why everyone loved it and why it's an Eastwood classic. 7/10 -
Bubbles-2119 August 1999Without this film, the entire genre of Orangutan films, as well as the film career of Tony Danza, would have been inconceivable. We, as Americans, have often felt it necessary to identify a "True American Art Form." Some have suggested jazz, others rap. However, it is quite possible that even those fine examples could be traced to other, non-American, sources. The Orangutan film is, without question, ours and ours alone. For other fine entries in this genre, I recommend "Going Bananas," "Any Which Way You Can," and certain key portions of "Cannonball Run II." When the history of this civilization is written by the super-intelligent species of rats that will no doubt conquer us, the chapter heading will no doubt read "Right Turn, Clyde."
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bkoganbing2 January 2009In Every Which Way But Loose, Clint Eastwood not only shares the screen with lady love Sondra Locke, but with an orangutan named Clyde. He had to call on all his skills to keep the film from being stolen by an ape.
This and its sequel Every Which Way You Can will never be at the top of Clint's cinema achievements, but it's a nice rollicking comedy about a bare knuckle fighter. If it were set in today's times instead of the Seventies, Eastwood's Philo Beddoe would be on the extreme fighting channel.
Seeing Clint's living quarters reminded me of John Wayne's similar arrangements in True Grit with Chin Lee and General Sterling Price the cat. Clyde's quite a bit more the handful than a cat. He lives with Geoffrey Lewis who is his second and corner man in the bare knuckle fighting business and handles all the wagers and Lewis's mother a 'helpless' little old lady with a shotgun, deliciously played by Ruth Gordon.
Making his living as a bare knuckle fighter, Clint just seems to run into people determined to take him down. That includes an involvement with aspiring country singer Sondra Locke whom he spends a good deal of money on and who then takes a powder on him. She's heading east so Clint, Lewis, and Clyde are as well. Along the way they pick up sharp shooting Beverly D'Angelo who saves them on one occasion.
The legendary bare knuckle champion is Denver Tank Murdoch and as that 20th century philosopher Ric Flair opined, to be the best you have to beat the best. So Clint is heading to Denver to find both Locke and Walter Barnes who plays Tank Murdoch with his three amigos.
He also manages to arouse the anger of John McQuade and his Black Widow Biker gang. These people are the sorriest biker gang ever depicted on the big screen. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE manages to best this crowd of losers. But they never give up.
Best in the film are Ruth Gordon and Clyde, not necessarily in that order. I've often thought that the Academy Awards should have a best animal performance in a given year. That year the Oscar gold would have been taken by the orangutan. I wish the film had elaborated a little more on when Eastwood and Lewis break into a zoo to get Clyde's male needs satisfied.
For a lighter and brighter side of Clint Eastwood, don't miss Every Which Way But Loose. -
hitchcockthelegend17 November 2019Every Which Way But Loose is directed by James Fargo and written by Jeremy Joe Kronsberg. It stars Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Geoffrey Lewis, Beverly D'Angelo and Manis The Orangutan.
It surprised the studio executives, even had them sweating about the release, but the adventures of Philo Beddoe (Eastwood) and his pet Orangutan proved to be a smash hit at the box office.
Beddoe is a trucker who also happens to make money by bare knuckle fighting, and he's very good at it. Clyde the orangutan is a full on personality himself, and between them they wind up being trailed by vengeful coppers and a very incompetent motorcycle gang. Philo's brother Orville (Lewis) is along for the ride and polar opposite love interests come into play via Lynn Halsey-Taylor (Locke) and Echo (D'Angelo).
Plot is very thin on the ground, we are in fact viewing a series of events that are mined for comedy purpose - which totally work. Action comes by way of the punch ups Philo gets into, with Eastwood as always proving to be one of the better punch throwing actors of his generation, while Lewis shines bright as the best friend and voice of reason to Philo.
The love story sub-plot involving Lynn and Philo - and its subsequent revelations - feels a touch out of place, since this is such a chilled and relaxed comedy picture. Which is the key, the makers know what they are doing, they are having fun and ask the audience to do the same. The public lapped it up and ensured that a sequel of similar tropes would follow. That also proved to be popular since it was more of the same.
Open the beer and popcorn and just run with it, it was never meant to be high art etc. 7/10 -
Fun flick. Caught it for the first time on video. Though it was obviously aimed for the redneck, teenage drive-in crowd, the stellar performance of Clyde raises this to the level of an art house flick. Clint did what Clint does best: fights and wins. The one distraction was the startling unappeal of Sondra Locke. Her lack of talent in acting is only surpassed by her lack of talent in singing. Other cast members included a loyal buddy, Orville, a swearing granny, two blundering cops, and a gang of wimpy bikers.
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alanfisher20014 June 2022I remember it as a slightly dangerous film to watch as a 15 year old, having watched it recently, it seems I was easily pleased back then. Corny, cheesy, harmless, inoffensive fits the bill.
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bustercolon23 November 2003Right turn Clyde. A man, a monkey, some hells angels wannabee's and some dude named Orville. What more could you want? Throw in some bare knuckle action of Clint breaking everyones face loose and its a classic. This is without a doubt one of the all time late night classics. The story, (its fluff), revolves around blue collar tough guy Filo Beddo and his buddies. One of which is Clyde, an orangatan and Orville, a greasey tow tuck driver. Which is worse is up to you. The gang gets into some bare knuckle boxing fights for cash and heads out on the road. Running into trouble with a hilarious wannabe biker gang and ending up with a showdown between Tank Murdock and Philo for some sort of tough guy championship. The movie is dated, has some cheasy music, (at least its not disco) lots of fight scenes, some great running gags at bikers, cops, rhinestone cowboys, and generally anyone clint doesnt like, but its very enjoyable and definitely worth a trip to blockbuster.
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possumopossum12 December 2006I know our favorite tough guy didn't direct this film, but you have to wonder if perhaps he was spoofing his tough guy rolls in this movie. After DIRTY HARRY, MAGNUM FORCE, and some others where he takes zero crap from anybody, he has this refreshing little thing about a bare-knuckle fighter that is really a fun little ride. He's still tough old Clint, but with a better sense of humor. It's been said before, Clyde (the ape) practically steals Clint's thunder, and they play off each other very well. (How many guys would have the gumption to ride around the highway with an ape?) That motorcycle gang is a real hoot. Sondra Locke is his love interest. She can't sing worth a tinker's damn in this movie, but she improves in the sequel. Another movie where you just sit back, enjoy the ride, and watch Clint kick ass and take names, as usual. 7 out of 10.
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tomimt9 July 2005Beer, country, fighting, Eastwood and a monkey, or is that an orangutan? Sounds great, eh? Well no. I don't know what they were smoking back then when they came up with the idea: Hey, Eastwood could do a movie where he's fist fighting truck driver and his best fried is an orangutan.
Well, okay, let's give this movie a benefit of a doubt, I liked it when I was a wee tiny lad, under ten or so. That was enough for me back then. Thought I don't recall laughing very hard when I watched this flick, but I did like it. But then I saw it again. And I was amazed. And not in the good way.
Okay, Philo (Eastwood in very poorly chosen role) is a truck driver, who makes money on the side by fist fighting. His two friends are an ape and Orville (Geoffrey Lewis). Philo fells head over heels for this purty little country singer named Lynn (Sondra Locke) who then disappears. Off to find the lost love. Then there's a mixed bunch of Nazi motorcyclist and some cops after Philo and co. The whole movie turns out as a headless run with no sense what so ever.
Every Which Way But Loose actually does have some good elements in it, it has the potential of a entertaining movie, but now it's barely even funny. Sure, it does cause couple of loose smiles but it hardly makes you laugh. And even the action scenes are relatively badly made, so even they wont be enough to keep up the interest.
Final judgment: If you really want to see Clint Eastewood in a bad flick this might be the one to start with. Sure he has some worse films under his belt, but this one is pretty close. -
vileone316-128 February 2006I'm currently taking a Clint Eastwood course at UT Austin, and we recently watched this movie.
And its a bit confusing. I'm not sure what to make of this fun, wacky, and somewhat random movie. Eastwood himself seems to strive and always aims for ambiguity in his work. And it shows here.
There were a lot of dumb ass critics in the 60's and 70's that liked to bash Eastwood and used the popular buzzword of fascist and labeled him as such. So in response, Eastwood was very particular about what he did afterward and would do things that contradict (in the eyes of critics) his previous work or characters. This of course confused critics and ultimately forced them to look at his work again and see that they were being dumb ass idiots and were just going along with the popular liberal clap trap at the time.
So we have this movie, in which Eastwood is this hillbilly mechanic and competent street fighter and his adventures with his orangutan (not a monkey Afsheen, they have 12 ribs like us). And its this almost really weird PG comedy. It has these sort of random plots and events that are kind of incorporated into the story and well, not really sure how I can best put it into words, but its just fun. It shows that Eastwood can do this wacky road, comedy.
But it has some surprisingly dramatic moments as well. The audience is well aware of the Sandra Locke's characters true intentions before Eastwood's Philo. And when he does figure it out, its pretty brutal. And I really bought into that emotional confrontation and Philo's reaction. And then Eastwood throws a fight, and in some ways its bleak. But in other ways it isn't. Philo I think found a little bit about himself and learned who his true friends are, people like Clyde and Orville, and Orville's girl Echo(a young Beverly D'Angelo).
The character of Tank Murdoch I believe is meant as an allegory to Clint Eastwood and his celebrity status, his celebrity and his star persona. Philo wants to challenge Murdoch and beat him. Murdoch is a guy who everyone knows and has this huge reputation. And then Philo sees Murdoch who's really pretty sad. His friends turn on him and aren't real friends, and he realizes he doesn't want to be Tank Murdoch. And he doesn't want other people gunning for him. So at the end of the movie, it almost feels like it was Eastwood REJECTING his own star persona and choosing to stay in obscurity with his friends. Makes me wonder how Eastwood truly feels about his celebrity status.
Jeffrey "The Vile One" Harris -
mark.waltz10 January 2020Perhaps because it is Clint Eastwood at his most easy going in spite of the overuse of his fists or the genial atmosphere, but this smash hit comedy (#2 at the box office in 1978 after "Grease") is easy to take. Indeed, it is majorly flawed, but after a while, it becomes like a two hour Road Runner and Coyote chase between the smarter than he looks Eastwood (as Philo Beddoe) and the idiotic "Black Widows", a motorcycle gang that seems to be a combination of the Coyote, Elmer Fudd and every buffoonish cartoon character ever created. You wouldn't suspect by the country and western feeling of this action comedy, but it is set in the L.A. basin, presumably in the valley, even though it has more of an Arizona or New Mexico feeling to its setting. Country legends Charlie Rich and Mel Tillis offer brief cameos as themselves and this adds a jovial country and western twang to the overlong proceedings.
To say that Philo Beddoe is no shrinking violet in spite of his seemingly quiet demeanor is an understatement. He gets delicious revenge on an uppity female USC student doing research on the country and western phenomenon (and being quite snotty about her findings) then takes on each man he fights as if they were a side of beef he was trying to personally tenderize. As an amateur fighter way past the prime of his life, Eastwood manages to make the fight scenes amusing even if they are violent and seemingly unnecessary. This doesn't go unnoticed by his pick-up, Lynn Halsey Taylor (the pretty Sondra Locke) who should be forewarned that her game of sexual exploits won't come without her losing.
Then there's his family: brother Orville (a very good Geoffrey Lewis), prickly mom (Ruth Gordon) and a orangutan named Clyde he won in another amateur fight. Every second or third word out of Gordon's mouth is a curse, and she is hysterical with her few scenes even though she really only shares a few scenes with her sons. Her point of being in the film is to add the "shocking dirty old lady" characterization that she became famous for a decade before in "Rosemary's Baby" and continued heartily in "The Big Bus". When she takes on the Black Widows (out for revenge against Eastwood for humiliating them and destroying some of their motorcycles), you might find yourself clapping your hands in glee and hooting and hollering in her honor. She is no old lady to be trifled with, and even the two police officers looking for Philo can't wait to get off of her porch after she berates them for disturbing her then for "leaving a vulnerable old lady all alone". Veteran character actor George Chandler has a nice cameo at the end as the DMV clerk, and Hank Worden is very funny in several scenes as the elderly trailer court manager.
We could have done without more subplots that come along, especially a vindictive police officer (Roy Jenson) who decides to take a medical leave of absence to find Philo and get revenge, with tag-along pal James McEachin adding another element of cartoonish nonsense to the film. For Geoffrey Lewis, there's the delicious entrance of the gorgeous Beverly D'Angelo as the likable Echo who aides Philo and Orville after they leave their vulnerable old ma to go find Locke who runs out on Philo without explanation. D'Angelo's star quality is obvious, and she is, next to the hysterically funny Clyde, the best part of this film. That is Thelma Pelish, the vivacious portly pal of Doris Day's from "The Pajama Game" as the demanding customer of D'Angelo's whom Lewis whispers a mysterious secret about D'Angelo into her ear.
As for Locke's character, she is set up to be a complete sociopath of a character, repeating sweet nothings to the various men she meets and obviously dropping one after another. The scene where Eastwood confronts her is powerful, and her breakdown reveals what a pathetic character she is underneath her confidence on stage and in the bedroom. To bring her back for the unnecessary sequel "Any Which Way You Can" was a major mistake, and to think this needed a sequel, irregardless of how much money it made, was an even bigger screw-up. I saw this in the theater when it came out in Christmas of 1978 and recall how the full audience reacted to each time the Black Widows were squished or each moment that Gordon cursed or every antic that Clyde played. If not a critic's pick, it was definitely the audience's, and it is easy to see why 42 years later (!), it did as well as it did. -
I get that this is a comedy and there were plenty of ridiculous moments, but I did not find myself laughing...not once. I did love Ma who keeps trying to get her driver's license. I loved her. She was the best part of the film for me.
This roughly tells the story of a truck driver turned bare knuckles fighter who has an orangutan who drinks beer and gives people the finger. He meets and has insta love for a country singer who is hooked up with a guy in a biker gang named the black widows. Lots of fist fighting in this chase movie that contains a long con amongst all of this madness.
Apparently Clint's agent tried to talk him out of doing this film but Clint had the last laugh as it was a huge commercial success. I'm not sure what else was at the box office, but for me this was a watch and delete. Although, I enjoyed seeing Beverly D'Angelo. -
Coxer9926 April 1999Eastwood steps back from his macho action star image as he has a little fun in this first of two films (Any Which Way You Can is the other)that team the star up with an orangutan named "Clyde." It's not Hope and Crosby, but it is a fun pairing. The film doesn't take itself too seriously. It's having too much to do something silly like that.
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r96sk19 January 2022A bit forgettable, if nothing terrible.
Clint Eastwood is solid enough, while the supporting Geoffrey Lewis, Sondra Locke and Ruth Gordon have a couple of moments. The plot is a little meandering and doesn't hold enough entertainment, even with an orangutan being present throughout 'Every Which Way but Loose'.
I found the pacing to be slower than I would've liked and the characters opposite the lead to be boring, whether it be John Quade & Co. Or the pair of police officers. I will say that I actually did enjoy the music used, which is arguably the film's main plus if I'm honest.
I can't say I'm expecting much from 'Any Which Way You Can', the sequel, but I'll give it a chance no doubt. -
markphilo13 June 2018There are many road movies out there, but not many with an with an Ape in tow.
The plot moves on nicely as it gathers up more characters on Clint's trail throughout the film.
In a way, rather similar to the Blue Brothers, but with more primates and knuckle fights. Comedy all the way through with some great acting except for Sandra Locke.
Oh Clint - why did you succumb to that? And why on Earth did you marry her!
If it's on TV I'm normally drawn back into it.
Favourite scene? The Black Widow tattoo scene - hilarious! -
grahamsj328 April 2003And he does it well, I might add. This is a very funny film and is one that I think all comedy fans might enjoy. Clint Eastwood is a bare knuckle fist fighter, and a good one. His fights always draw betting people from all over. His best buddy is an orangutan named Clyde, who has a propensity for hitting people pretty hard, too. Costar and then live in lover Sondra Locke does a creditable job as well. A good one!
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crumpytv16 June 2022Clint, what were you thinking of?
I remember turning off when I first saw some of this on TV back in the 1980s and had always considered it one to avoid in the future.
We had watched a few of Clint's movies recently and my wife said "what about the one with the monkey, it can't be that bad." So we gave it a go.
It was even worse than I remembered.
And they made a sequel .... Arggggggghhhhhhh!!! -
dunmore_ego20 January 2007A street fighter. A love story. An ape.
Disguised as a simplistic road story, *Every Which Way But Loose* is a paean to freedom; freedom from the strictures of routine, freedom to settle disputes like a man (If the problem can't be fixed with a fist or a monkey wrench, it ain't worth fixin'), freedom to fight for your ideals (even if those ideals hurt the other guy's chin repeatedly), freedom to choose love or lust as your Saturday Night Thing, and freedom to have interspecies BFF's.
Written by first-timer, Jeremy Joe Kronsberg, and directed by James Fargo (assistant director on five previous Eastwood movies), *Every Which Way* became Clint Eastwood's biggest hit at the time of its release.
Musta been that freedom thingy.
Clint is Philo Beddoe, a San Fernando Valley good ole boy and hammer-fisted, bare-knuckle street fighter, whose best friend is a gregarious, lovable ape, Clyde (a quirky orang-utan named Manis, long since dead at the time of this writing). Providing a uniquely bizarre buddy presence, Clyde steals the show. Though totally replaceable as a plot element, he becomes irreplaceable as a star in his own right.
*Every Which Way But Loose* finds Clint at a perfect fit 48 - not too old to appear frail and not too young to appear green - spending much of his time in Shirtless Kirk mode in illegal street fights that pad his trucker income. Falling hard for Lynn Halsey-Taylor (skeletal Sondra Locke, playing a country singer even though she can't sing worth a damn yes, unfortunately that's her voice on the soundtrack), Philo traverses the American heartland with his pal, Orville (Geoffrey Lewis), to woo her, whilst moronic cops and imbecilic bikers tail him tailing her, both groups on a vendetta against Philo (for their chins repeatedly impacting his fist).
Populated with Eastwood regulars (John Quade, Dan Vadis, Bill McKinney, William O'Connell "Thems black widdas!" - and a very young, very sexy, Beverly D'Angelo), *Every Which Way* is that type of homespun movie where a character can step up to a bar and order "a beer" and get one!; where a barroom brawl breaks out and everyone starts fighting - for no reason and with the person they were sitting next to; this motley concoction of characters and contrivance could have slipped out of control very easily, instead exhibiting an easy grace that its star has become renowned for, and standing defiantly on its inspired silliness.
There is a throwaway scene where Ma (rocket-fueled Ruth Gordon) chastises Philo for Clyde's misbehavior, whereupon Philo approaches Clyde and points an imaginary gun at him. Clyde puts his hands up, Philo exclaims, "Bang!" and Clyde suddenly falls back flat on the tires. Funny and cute on the surface, only Clint aficionados will see the satire, as Clint assumes the relaxed lean of one of his avenger characters and - in a film where he never wields a gun uses a pretend-gun to fire the punchline. (*Every Which Way* followed three movies where Clint's gunhand got a heavy workout - as Dirty Harry in *The Enforcer*, 1976, *The Outlaw Josey Wales*, 1976, and a film where more than a million rounds were expended trying to mow down his Ben Shockley in *The Gauntlet*, 1977.) Eternally unassuming about his "living legend" status, Clint is more inclined to crack a bemused, embarrassed smile over the effusiveness afforded him at awards ceremonies, rather than transform into Hollywood Ass. Willing to parody his own legendary characters, during a confrontation with the bike gang - the imperiously impotent Black Widows - we hear a snatch of the *Good, the Bad and the Ugly* theme.
The country music soundtrack is surprisingly fitting and uncharacteristically enjoyable, especially the nostalgic, poignant title track, sung by Eddie Rabbitt. To make nominal sense of the grammatically incorrect title, simply preface three words of the song lyrics: "You turn me every which way but loose " Though the movie is played for laughs aplenty, it is a Queen song disguised as a Hansen song, ending on a very dark note while the crooked cops and incompetent bike gang draw our attention as villains, it becomes apparent in the final scenes that the vilest villain is the woman who turned Philo every which way Lynn Halsey-Taylor. There is no formulaic reconciliation with Philo, as Lynn maintains her stance as an unrepentant philanderer and turns her back on him. Philo then loses the film's final fight, for mercenary reasons. We don't often see these "types" on screen; like the incestuous family in *Chinatown*, these characters are socially-shunned "types" that slap us awake to the possibility of conclusions besides Hollywood pap.
I just hope that when I'm 48, I'll look as good as the shirtless Clint. -
movingwater1 May 2018Sure, it's a silly movie. But for those of us who remember the disappointment of the original release, the movie ages extremely well. Watching Clint at his physical peak, fighting and drinking his way across America's southwest, the real fun is on seeing so many familiar character actors of the '70's in one movie.
The plot, while unimportant, is also inoffensive, just a means of watching Clint be Clint, while. enjoying performances by familiar country western stars of the time, Mel Tillis, Charlie Rich, and Phil Everly. -
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Sad really, that (adjusted for inflation) this one turned out to be one of Eastwood's most successful films of all time.
A (mostly) brain-dead "comedy" about UNfunny, stupid men drinking, acting crude, and using their fists to get through life.....
If that weren't bad enough, this film falls into the trap of actually believing that having a monkey (okay......an orangutan) doing "funny" things somehow added something positive to the story !! WHY do people think having monkeys (or apes, or orangutans, etc., etc.) in films (or on TV) is ADORABLE ?? It's NOT !!
The only "good" thing this film now has going for it, is the nostalgia factor of getting to see some of the 'sights' from the various location shots from back in the late 70's !
Thankfully, Clint would eventually realize that he had SO much more to give humanity, once he started routinely directing his own films.....
As Siskel and Ebert were once so fond of saying, THUMBS DOWN !!
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Aaron137526 March 2003But I like it anyway. This one follows a kind of a street fighter played by Clint Eastwood as he tries to find this gal he had a fling with. Accompanying him is his pal and his pet orangutan. There is a plot to some extent, but this movie really just kind of goes from here to there. My favorites are the bad biker gang the Black Widows who constantly get the crap kicked out of them by whoever they fight. There are other very funny scenes as Ruth Gordon is also great in this one. This was in the time where Sandra Locke was in every Clint Eastwood movie and she is in this one too. That had to be a case of someone who got roles more because who she was dating. This one goes from place to place and fight to fight and there is no great super ending, but a nice simple one instead. All in all a nice, fun, comedy to watch.
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jotix10011 May 2010Philo Beddoe, is not afraid to fight anyone. In fact, he makes his living out of taking money from anybody that wants to challenge him, or his abilities to knock down those daring to try him. Philo's best friend, and companion is Clyde, an ape of epic proportions that loves to drink beer. His other pal is Orville, a loyal friend that follows him everywhere and acts as his fight manager. Orville's mother, Zenobia, is a foul mouthed woman who fails all the driving tests she goes to.
Philo takes an interest in a C&W vocalist, Lynn Halsey-Taylor, a not too talented singer traveling from place to place trying to make it in the business. Lynn, alas, is a calculating woman who does not plan to spend the rest of her life with Philo. Lynn is quick in accepting Philo's generosity, but she wants no romance with Philo, who goes after her, fighting himself with whoever wants to and making some money in the process.
James Fargo, the director, had been around as assistant to many projects that Clint Eastwood got involved in, so it did not come as a surprise his friend would tap him for this film, as he was starting in the industry as a director. Written by Jeremy Joe Kronsberg, whose first screenplay this was, the film was not exactly what one would have expected by a star of Mr. Eastwood's magnitude. While the movie is not horrible, it is forgettable. Clint Eastwood, a man of impeccable taste in music, has always favored jazz music in most of his movies. Here, he plays tribute, perhaps, to all the places out West that feature music from the heartland. Mel Tillis, one of C&W's big stars, sings a couple of songs.
It did not help that Sondra Locke was cast as Lynn. The actress and Mr. Eastwood had no chemistry whatsoever, in spite of being romantically involved. Based on the popularity of this film, the stars went to do a sequel, "Any Which Way you Can". Geoffrey Lewis plays Orville, Philo's true friend. Beverly D'Angelo appears as Echo, and the great Ruth Gordon is seen as Ma. Boggs. -
ArtVandelayImporterExporter17 October 2021This movie is is so inert, so devoid of genuine entertainment value, I'm not even sure it qualifies as a decent drive-in movie. I mean, if I'm 16 in 1978 I'm going to the drive-in to get drunk with my buddies and see a movie with violence and/or T&A and/or rock&roll. I'm not going to see Clint fake-fight a bunch of toothless hicks while one of our ape relatives looks on. That poor ape. What did he do to deserve being exploited like this?
I've seen more realistic fights at Saturday night wrestling.
A comedy? I don't think so. It's painful. Not even Ruth Gordon can save it.
And then it just ends. Was there actually a story here?
But I do remember the end credits song by Eddie Rabbitt. Long since forgotten. Man, i am old.