Comment by Magic Marmalade ●:
This has always been a bit of a comfort food movie for me, having seen it repeatedly on tv since childhood, but even back then, I always felt there was something odd about it, not like other movies...
...And I'm not talking about the presence of the orangutan: Clyde.
No, this was something else indefinable, that has never really occurred to me until my most recent watch:
I finally figured it out as being the fact that the "hero" Clint Eastwood, although playing a tough guy fighter, is actually a bit of a dunce, and a loser - well, maybe that's a bit harsh, but certainly less than the usual hero type character that you'd expect from him:
He doesn't have the world figured out, is not the ultra-capable hero sort who can deal with anything, and not only does he not (spoiler) not win the big fight at the end, and also not get the girl, his victory in the end is actually learning a lesson about how foolish he has been, and being philosophical about it.
That's actually quite remarkable when you think about it, as I can't (off the top of my head) recall any other movie doing that, where the hero is a more realistic failure in many aspects of his life, and fragile in certain ways, and doesn't win out or win the girl...
... quite enlightened, and ahead of it's time really, and possibly, being a more accurate reflection of the realities of the lives the rest of us outside moviedome live is what makes him uniquely relatable, and could go some way to explaining why this movie is generally quite well loved, and very popular.
In addition, Sondra Locke's character is actually the one kind of in charge of the situation...
(Never really liked her, felt she was a bit odd, but having read a few things about her online since she sadly passed, I realise she may have been a more remarkable woman than she was ever given credit for, and may be deserving of a little more love and respect than she got in her lifetime - but maybe that's just blowback from breaking up with one of the biggest Hollywood stars of all time)
In all, rather than being dismissed as a cheap, dumb, throwaway movie that people (critics) always took it for, it might be one of the most refreshingly original stories out there - and certainly more progressive and enlightened than it is given credit for.
Anyway, I love it - always have, always will, I just can't figure out why the ape was added to this story, I don't really think Clyde is entirely necessary, even if he is a fun comedic element of the story.
