Since 1971's Play Misty For Me, Clint Eastwood has directed 24 feature films and established himself as one of the great current Hollywood filmmakers. A handful of those 24 films are bona fide masterpieces (such as The Outlaw Josey Wales, Unforgiven, and The Bridges of Madison County) and some are merely ordinary, but the vast majority are at least interesting, solid, and very well-crafted.

Honkytonk Man (1982) was Eastwood's ninth picture as director and the second he also produced - an important item to note when you consider that he has had complete creative control over most of his films ever since. While not one of his greatest films, Honkytonk Man is nonetheless underrated. It features the perfect compositions and clean editing we've come to expect from Eastwood's movies, fine acting all around, gentle but satisfying humor, and some emotional dramatic moments. What it lacks is a truly strong story. Still, it's very watchable if you get in the right mood for a leisurely road movie and character study.

Set in the Depression, Clint plays Red Stovall, a country singer who is determined to audition at the Grand Ole Opry before he dies of tuberculosis. Accompanied by his adolescent nephew Whit (played by Clint's son Kyle Eastwood, who does just fine) and Whit's Grandpa (the great veteran character actor John McIntire), Red departs Oklahoma for Nashville. Along the way, Whit does most of the driving, tries his best to "look out for" Uncle Red, and comes of age as Red passes on some of his unique wisdom and ways of doing things - much of it funny (a chicken theft; a priceless visit to a whorehouse), some of it more sober (Whit must learn to deal with death). The story is certainly episodic, but the episodes are often so enjoyable that it doesn't matter too much. Red eventually makes it to Nashville, and his singing sequences there are touching and well-played, despite the fact that Eastwood's singing talent doesn't exactly measure up to his directing or acting abilities.

Still, Eastwood's well-known love of music, especially jazz and blues, is surely a reason he was drawn to this script. He even included cameos by several well-known musical artists. Famed country singer Marty Robbins was the most prominent - he appears in the recording sequence, playing and singing with Eastwood on the song "Honkytonk Man." Robbins died before the film was released, but his recording of "Honkytonk Man" reached the Billboard Country Top 10 posthumously.


by Jeremy Arnold