Every Which Way but Loose (1978) Reviews

• cultural classic

  bustercolon2003-11-23

  Right 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.

  More

• Incredibly underrated

  Stu-422000-01-07

  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.

  More

• Tons of fun from start to finish

  vileone316-12006-02-28

  I'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

  More

• Almost a plotless movie.

  Aaron13752003-03-26

  But 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.

  More

• Clint And Clyde

  bkoganbing2009-01-02

  In 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.

  More