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Such a frustrating disappointment

Just what I expected

Absolutely Brilliant!

A Major Disappointment

Honkeytonk Man (1982)Plot In A Paragraph: Red Stovall (an auburn haired Eastwood) a sick (tuberculosis) country-western musician, has just been invited to audition for the Grand Ole Opry, his chance of a lifetime to become a success. So with his nephew Whitt in tow, he sets off to achieve his dream.Clint Eastwood played his own guitar work and performed his own vocals for this picture. Clearly this is a very personal movie for Eastwood, not least as his son Kylie is acting with him. Honkeytonk Man is one of the most surprising changes of pace in Eastwood's career, partly because Red is an ailing man. He is clearly enjoying himself playing the sly, hard drinking and debaunched Red. For me it's one of his best performances. I actually think he was deserving of an Oscar nomination at least. I'm not saying he should have won, as Ben Gingsly (Ghandi) was a worthy winner in a year that also had Paul Newman (The Verdict) and Dustin Hoffman (Tootsie) nominated.Kyle Eastwood (coached by Sondra Locke) delivers a fine performance that silenced any naysayers that he got the role purely because of his dad. Red and Whitt become partners in crime, a little like what Butch and Philip would be in future Eastwood movie A Perfect World. Both these films equally explore redemption (for the senior character) and rights of passage (for the junior) only this movie makes more of a childs entrance in to adult hood. Of the rest of the cast Alexa Kenin (who tragically died a few years after this movie, in a death that has never been explained) is charming and sweet and John McIntire is great as Grandpa. But I despise Barry Corbin, in his second Eastwood movie, he appeared in several Burt Reynolds movies of this era too, and his voice just irritates me. For such a serious movie, it has some scenes (dim witted cops and jail breaks) that would not look out of place in a movie where Clint is playing Philo Beddo!! Personally, I don't know how any lover of movies, can not be moved by Honkeytonk Man, but it seems to be a movie nobody seen at the time, and nobody remembers now. In a year that saw a new breed of hero, with Sly Stallone bringing Rambo to the screen for the first time in First Blood and Arnold Schwarzenegger play Conan for the first time in Conan The Barbarian. Sadly audiences had no interest in seeing an ailing Eastwood, and Honkeytonk Man failed to draw in audiences of even modest proportions (for an Eastwood movie) and disappointingly it only grossed $4million at the domestic box office to end the year as the 100th highest grossing movie of 1982.

Honkytonk: a cheap disreputable nightclub or dance hall.This is part of a 3-for-1 DVD set of Eastwood "B" movies.Clint Eastwood is Red Stovall, a drunkard who writes songs and sings country, with an ambition to become famous. His co-star here is his own son, 15-year-old Kyle Eastwood as his nephew Whit. After setting up the premise, most of the movie becomes a road trip with Whit driving, and the two of them making their best efforts to get to Memphis without money, and with a car prone to breaking down.I found it mildly enjoyable, but certainly not one of the better Clint Eastwood movies. I was surprised that he has a rather pleasant singing voice, although a bit soft, not very powerful.It was good seeing Barry Corbin, 'Maurice' of "Northern Exposure."SPOILERS. Red was also sick, apparently suffering from TB. When he would sing too much, he would start coughing and spit up blood. Before he died, he made it to Memphis, where a studio recorded all his songs. He may have become famous after he died.

Clint Eastwood, looking drawn, rumpled and weathered, takes a radical, courageous departure from his usual reliably stalwart tough guy persona in this gently moving, defiantly unheroic and very low-key seriocomic 30's Depression-era set drama as Red Stovall, a boorish, feckless, dissolute, alcoholic drifter, failed would-be country-and-western singer/songwriter and general all-around worthless, ill-tempered and irresponsible rapscallion with an unfortunate knack for getting into trouble, messing things up and making life hell for everyone who gets close to him. Slowly dying from tuberculosis, Red makes a lengthy, arduous pilgrimage from Oklahoma to Tennesse to make his dream of performing at the legendary Grand Ole Opry come true, taking his foolishly awestruck nephew Whit (nicely played by Clint's then 14-year-old son Kyle) and his frisky grandfather (a superb John McIntire) along with him. During their eventful odyssey Whit breaks Red out of jail after Red is arrested by drawling good ol' boy sheriff Jerry Hardin for stealing chickens, Red takes Whit to a whorehouse so the boy can lose his virginity, and the group has colorful encounters with an obnoxious, conniving teenage girl (a perfectly irritating Alexa Kenin) who tries to dupe Red into believing he impregnated her, grubby mechanic Tracey Walter, venal highway patrolman Tim Thomerson, and mean, untrustworthy bar owner Barry Corbin prior to Red arriving in Nashville for his do-or-die audition, only to erupt into a coughing fit in front of the hard-nosed talent scout (a marvelous cameo by John Carpenter movie regular Charles Cyphers) while in the middle of belting out the wonderfully regretful and reflective titular song. Eastwood's subtle direction doesn't in any way force the wry humor or delicately heart-breaking sentiment found in Clancy Carlile's folksy, quietly observant script, allowing the story's considerable poignancy to stem naturally from the characters and the experiences they have. Eastwood furthermore delivers an excellent and convincing performance as Red, an atypical Eastwood lead who's initially quite unappealing and only becomes endearing in the picture's tragic closing sequences in which Red's deep-seated yearning to belatedly realize his potential and subsequently be somebody makes itself touchingly apparent. The rest of the cast, which also includes Verna Bloom and Matt Clark as Red's tolerant, long-suffering relatives, are every bit as fine.The elegant, lyrical cinematography by Bruce Surtees gives the film a misty, lived-in look that's a beguiling blend of warm heartfelt nostalgia (Eastwood was born in 1930 and partially grew up during the Great Depression; he traveled about the country with his itinerant laborer father during this troubled time) and scrappy downcast authenticity. Noted country-and-western producer Snuff Garrett was the music supervisor for the stand-out soundtrack; such famous and revered singing stars as Ray Price, Porter Wagner, Frizzell and West, blues singer Linda Hopkins, and especially Marty Robbins have telling bit parts -- Robbins, who died shortly before the movie opened theatrically, has a lovely moment as a back-up session musician who assumes lead vocal chores when Red becomes too weak and sickly to finish the song himself. Eastwood sings a few numbers with a frayed, raspy, worn-out baritone -- it's a hoarse, yet affecting croak which bespeaks countless years of hard living and heavy drinking with a bracingly matter-of-fact directness. Why, "Honkytonk Man" even comes complete with a provocative philosophical message: Sometimes it's the people you expect the least from who teach us the most about life. Unjustly vilified by most critics and ignored by audiences when it first came out, this tender little gem deserves to be rediscovered as one of Clint Eastwood's most surprising and adventurous as well as thoughtful and underrated change-of-pace cinematic excursions that he has ever made to date.

This film is one of Eastwood´s most compelling and strikes you right at the heart. It tells us a story with such a warmth and compassion about a theme as old as America itself. It is about a man and his love for his nephew, his music and his his desire to make a name for himself before his TB´ll end it all. Though Clint´s voice isn´t the best it does however strengthen our understanding of the motivation of a man that is running against time in a setting that is both harsh and unforgiving. The movie´s depiction of the depression is outstanding and the songs are stupendous. Watch for Marty Robbins who also sings half the theme song. All in all an outstanding movie that will stay in your heart for a long, long time...