Review of Every Which Way but Loose (1978) by Nathan O — 08 Sep 2010

If you know Clint Eastwood for his "Dirty Harry" films and his Western films, then this one is going to be a surprise.

Clint Eastwood stars as Philo Beddoe, a truck driver for a pipe supply company who finds himself smitten with a Lynn Halsey-Taylor, a country singer played by Sondra Locke who hopes to make it big in the country music world. Smitten by love, Beddoe hits the road to go and find this mysterious woman. The big surprise which even surprised the public when this film came around in 1978 is that this film isn't an action or a thriller, but a comedy movie! Eastwood was even advised not to take the role but took it anyway to panning by critics but a huge box office success. Along his trip to find Halsey-Taylor, he comes across a series of characters, most memorably the "Black Widows" a motor cycle who had an accidental run-in with Beddoe and then pursue him, hoping to make him pay. It's a film with laughs and entertainment that, probably, not every Eastwood fan would enjoy but to a general public, is an enjoyable experience.