It’s hard to remember now, but there was a time when Clint Eastwood wasn’t the critics’ favorite and Oscar juggernaut he is today. Back in the seventies, his films were labeled as lowbrow and pandering by most critics. This didn’t stop him from being one of the decade’s most reliable stars, and his thrillers and Westerns were solid hits. Still, there comes a time in almost every star’s career when he decides to broaden his appeal, to step outside his usual comfort zone into the sort of movie few people expect from him. For comedians, this is often a serious role designed to show off their dramatic chops. For larger-than-life stars, it’s something more down-to-earth, a more family-friendly vehicle to bring them down to Earth. And for Eastwood, it was playing opposite an orangutan named Clyde in Every Which Way But Loose.
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