Every Which Way but Loose

Directed by James Fargo, Every Which Way but Loose follows trucker/bare-knuckle brawler Philo Beddoe (Clint Eastwood) as he, his brother (Geoffrey Lewis’ Orville), and his pet orangutan (Manis’ Clyde) embark on a road trip to track down Sondra Locke’s Lynn Halsey-Taylor. Filmmaker Fargo, armed with Jeremy Joe Kronsberg’s screenplay, delivers an exceedingly ramshackle piece of work that benefits substantially from the affable efforts of its charismatic star, as Eastwood turns in a relaxed and endlessly charismatic performance that goes a long way towards smoothing over the movie’s various bumps and missteps (and it doesn’t hurt, certainly, that the actor shares palpable chemistry with his simian costar). It’s equally clear, however, that Every Which Way but Loose does suffer from a meandering midsection that’s been suffused with many, many less-than-spellbinding subplots (eg Philo and Orville’s mom attempts to get her driver’s license, Philo is pursued by an unreasonably off-kilter motorcycle gang, etc), which, when coupled with a palpably overlong running time, paves the way for a distressingly hit-and-miss second half that rarely, if ever, feels as streamlined as one might’ve preferred – with the final result result an agreeable-enough endeavor that would hardly be worth mentioning were it not for Eastwood’s perpetually spellbinding turn.

**1/2 out of ****