Thanks for the memories!

just watch it!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

There 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!

Eastwood's two Hillbilly comedy movies - The 2nd one two years later - are still creditable, and fun to watch when you need to cheer up sometimes.I've read that this movie, due to inflation and many other points, still is the most money rewarding one during the whole Clint Eastwood career.I think that it struck some jackpot timing (back in '78) by transforming the hissing western cowboy into an everybody/anybody average American dude, who's interests besides his job as a truck driver are country clubs, women and beer. Bare-nuckle illegal boxing for cash another hobby...It may be grade as one of the smartest moves in movie history, to make Dirty Harry a fellow American dude.The audience bought it at once, critics both cheered and booed at Clint's sudden genre flip. (What about "Paint Your Wagon"....?)But of course both of the movies are nowadays dedicated to the orangutans. The screen time gave them much playful joy for sure.A "small" American classic still today.

*Possible Spoilers!* This quasi-cute, off-beat comedy would be Clint Eastwood's first departure from Spaghetti-Westerns and Dirty Harry roles.When it comes to the likes of Every Which Way But Loose (EWWBL), Eastwood's financial backers strongly advised him to steer away from this production for the sake of preserving his well-established movie-image. The squinty-eyed Eastwood, being the rebel that he was, naturally refused to take their unsound (?) advice and went ahead and produced this so-so modern-day cowboy movie, with mixed results.Eastwood plays rugged character Philo Beddoe, a trucker and a brawler (with a definite soft-spot), searching, like an utter fool, for (of all things) lost love.The ever-stubborn Philo drags along his pal, Orville, and Orville's pet orangutan, Clyde (for comedy relief), as he roams somewhat aimlessly around the American West, from California to Colorado.As is typical in a comedy flick such as this - Philo, a brazen, bare-knuckle fighter, never-ever fails to cross everyone, everywhere he goes. Naturally, Philo manages to p-i-s-s the police right off, to the extreme. And he even ends up being angrily pursued by a biker gang called The Black Widows, who chase him in a ridiculous fit of tire-screeching revenge.EWWBL's biggest disappointment is Philo's lost love - now found, who goes by the name of Lynn Halsey-Taylor. Philo spent so much time searching for this broad and all she ended up being was nothing but a little, trailer-trash, Country'n'Western singer who warbles away to all of the "deaf-anyways" drunks in sleazy, low-life Honky-Tonks.It's too bad that Clyde, the orangutan, didn't get more camera-time in EWWBL. He was really about the only interesting character in the entire flick that was at all worth watching.If you're a true Clint Eastwood fan, then you're sure to enjoy this mildly amusing flick from 1978.

Every Which Way But Loose (1978) * 1/2 (out of 4)Clint Eastwood was great before EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE and he was great after the film so that leaves the movie in some sort of weird Twilight Zone-like state. Perhaps Eastwood just wanted to see what it was like making something really bad but something that crowds would eat up and turn into a hit. In the film he plays a redneck trucker who loves to fight and drink beer with his Orangutan named Clyde. The fighter ends up beating up some cops and a biker gang and as he takes off to find the girl of his dreams (Sondra Locke) he ends up with these morons following him. There are times when I don't like a crowd pleasing film but I can view that film and understand why people like it. That's not the case here because for the life of me I can't see what so many others saw in this picture. Not only is it painfully unfunny but it's also so drawn out that by the forty-minute mark I was ready to hit the eject button but we still had over a hour to go! It really does seem as if the writer was sitting around thinking what funny situations he could put Eastwood in. Lets team him with an ape. Okay, something could have been done with that. Have the two of them drink beer together. Again, perhaps something could be done. Oh yeah, get Eastwood to fight as many people as possible. These elements could have been the start to something but in this movie they're everything and they are just so poorly done that it never works. The entire film is just so long and nothing but the same thing happens over and over. Eastwood appears to be having a good time with it all. Geoffrey Lewis is good as his buddy. Both Locke and Beverly D'Angelo are good in their roles as the love interests. With that said, it's Clyde who gives the best performance. However, with all the fine performances it's still not enough to overcome a silly and bland story.