The Movie Room

This month I’m going to be looking back at one of my favorite directors—Clint Eastwood. Between Play Misty for Me (1971) and Juror #2 (2024), he has directed a total of 40 films—19 of which I own. I may not always agree with his politics, but his directorial style always has me looking for more even in his worst movies—his non-fussy approach makes it seem like his works could be slapdash but instead almost all of his movies show deep emotions and complex thoughts about the state of masculinity and aging.

This week, I will be posting a review of his first movie Play Misty for Me (1971) to look at where his career started. It is an erotic thriller where Clint in his 40s cast himself as a DJ who all the women want, even though they are at least a decade younger than him—which will be a recurring feature (though with a widening gap) in many of his movies.

Next week I will be looking at his two Best Picture Oscar winners—Unforgiven (1992) and Million Dollar Baby (2004). The former is a Western—the genre that made Eastwood a star even though he chose to only direct a few of them himself—and the latter is a sports melodrama, both of which star Eastwood contemplating his own mortality and aged status, showing that he’s been playing at the brink of death since before I was even born.

The following week, I will be writing about the two movies he made in 2006 as companion pieces: Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. They are both war movies, as they look at the Battle of Iwo Jima from both sides of the conflict, showcasing Eastwood’s careful consideration and lack of easy side-picking.

After that, I will be watching movies where Clint Eastwood stars as a man behind a camera. White Hunter, Black Heart (1990) is a fictionalized version of the making of The African Queen, with Eastwood basically playing the great director John Huston. In The Bridges of Madison County (1995), Eastwood is a photographer taking pictures of bridges who falls in love with Meryl Streep. By directing movies featuring himself as men with cameras, these are Eastwood at his most meta.

Finally, I will end the month looking at true stories of terrorism defeated. First is The 15:17 to Paris (2018) and then Richard Jewell (2019). These are two of his newest films, and they both keep Clint’s old themes of masculinity, bravery, and duty, but filtered through real-life events that make an interesting double feature for late-period Eastwood.