Cry Macho
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: September 17, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 44 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
20
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The Observer (UK)Simran HansNov 13, 2021
There’s something touching about seeing the 91-year-old Eastwood in such a reflective mood. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeNov 12, 2021
Even those who find themselves unable to warm to Cry Macho will surely admit that the film’s presence in 21st century cinemas is a marvel. Read full review
60
EmpireJames WhiteNov 9, 2021
Eastwood’s back with a look at manliness filtered through the wisdom of aging. It makes the odd stultifying stop and falls into several cliché potholes, yet Cry Macho ultimately finds its way. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneK. Austin CollinsSep 20, 2021
In a moral universe so keenly prescribed as this, the goodness we see in Cry Macho — goodness that seems to come with age or, as in the case of Marta and Mike both, after great sacrifice — resounds even as, scene to scene, the movie feels shaky. Read full review
60
ABC NewsPeter TraversSep 17, 2021
This meandering neo-western is far from classic Eastwood. But Eastwood, at 91, is still classic in every sense of the word. Read full review
60
SlashfilmJosh SpiegelSep 17, 2021
It's now hard to imagine that "Unforgiven" felt very much like Eastwood closing the book on his Western era. Cry Macho is more of a slow-paced postscript to that book, but a surprisingly well-worn and welcome postscript nonetheless. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonSep 15, 2021
From the film’s first moments, the audience can guess exactly how the story will pan out, and the pleasure is watching Eastwood gracefully negotiate every well-worn twist and turn. Read full review
60
VarietyOwen GleibermanSep 15, 2021
It’s friendly and diverting and formulaic, in an inoffensive and good-natured way, and it’s a totally minor affair. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskySep 15, 2021
The fact is that, as a movie, Cry Macho is slow and sometimes dull. But as a statement by Hollywood’s oldest leading man and working director, it offers its share of gleaming low-key insights. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisSep 27, 2021
Regardless of whether Cry Macho merits a rating of good, bad, or ugly, Eastwood’s mere presence, despite any perceived physical frailties, can’t help but dwarf this slenderest of movies. Read full review
50
IGNMatt FowlerSep 17, 2021
Cry Macho has spare moments of charm and tranquility, but mostly it's a dry and unfinished story that fails to hit even the most basic of Story 101 beats. Read full review
50
ObserverOliver JonesSep 15, 2021
So much of Eastwood’s career over the last two decades has proven that his age and experience has incredible cinematic value when he holds himself to the high standards he set for himself years ago. When he doesn’t, which is sadly the case with Cry Macho, the uninspired results leave you with wistful memories of what once was. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperSep 15, 2021
Alas, the sweet-natured and occasionally moving but surprisingly stiff and slight Cry Macho is most likely destined to be remembered as one of Eastwood’s lesser works. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangSep 15, 2021
The simplicity of the story Eastwood is telling would seem to suit his unvarnished, unfussy style, though frankly, a bit more fuss — a few more takes to smooth out a wobbly performance, an extra light bulb or two in the interior shots — wouldn’t have gone awry. But “Cry Macho,” with its attractive but not indulgent landscapes (shot in New Mexico) backed by a spare, twangy Mark Mancina score, takes pains to reject anything that might smack of falsity or pretense. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanSep 15, 2021
Maybe it’s true that it’s never too late to find a new home. But in some ways, it feels like “Cry Macho” has missed the bus. Perhaps Eastwood should have kept his hand on the reins of this pet project while letting someone else sit in the saddle. Read full review
42
Paste MagazineJacob OllerSep 15, 2021
Eastwood’s been riding off into the sunset for decades now, and Cry Macho’s creaky, lackadaisical hat-wave is a feature-length parody of a golden oldie. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyNov 11, 2021
This Tex-Mex drama about a retired rodeo star on a mercy mission has an intermittent dawdling charm. It’s also slack and featherbrained – and set in the late 1970s, but you can barely tell. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawNov 10, 2021
There’s a creak of old leather (and other things) in this outrageously dated and hokey sentimental western, made from a script that’s been knocking around the industry for decades; it’s a Swiss cheese of bizarre plot-holes set in 1979, clearly because that is when it was conceived. Read full review
40
Film ThreatAlex SavelievSep 20, 2021
Eastwood is a formidable filmmaker, a force of nature, whose films like Mystic River will forever remain in the pantheon of Great Cinema. Alas, Cry Macho may likewise be forever regarded as a perplexing glimpse at a different side of the man, one who's created this macho persona and who now attempts to absolve himself, to only – pardon my crude use of the idiom – dig his own grave. Read full review
40
The GuardianBenjamin LeeSep 15, 2021
Cry Macho is dogged by a slack pace and an inertness that overwhelms, scene after scene of nothing, not a funny line or a moving moment or an unresolved conflict, just nothing. Read full review
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