Clint Eastwood names the greatest comedy movie of the century: “You couldn’t help laughing”
To paraphrase the man himself, “You’ve got to ask one question: Do I feel funny, punk?” For the most part, no, Clint Eastwood has never been celebrated as a particularly hilarious man, but he has had his moments over the years.
Paint Your Wagon was most definitely not one of them, with the icon’s ill-fated foray into musical comedy blowing up in his face. It’s one of the few films he wished he hadn’t bothered his arse to make, but his eventual return to light-hearted fare coincided with the commercial high point of his onscreen career.
On paper, Eastwood’s agents were right to suggest that starring opposite an orangutan in an odd-couple buddy caper wasn’t the most inspired career move, only for them to end up being pelted by bananas when Every Which Way but Loose became the highest-grossing release in his filmography. Even today, when adjusted for inflation, it’s still top of the pile among his on-camera outings.
He’d never be the guy to mug for the cameras or go full-blown slapstick, but few have wrapped their laughing gear around a one-liner better than the four-time Academy Award winner, who’s single-handedly been responsible for several of the most iconic soundbites in cinema history.
Pair him with a Gene Wilder, Robin Williams, Peter Sellers, or Jim Carrey, and he’d most likely be utterly hopeless, but give him the leeway to plant his tongue in his cheek and let that twinkle in his eye take over, and Eastwood showed that he wasn’t as stoic and serious as he was often made about to be.
That begs an obvious question, though: what makes him laugh? He’s not the kind of guy to wear his comedy favourites proudly on the sleeve, but there was one Academy Award-nominated blockbuster farce that left him completely tickled pink, which conjures the fascinating image of Clint Eastwood sitting in a darkened auditorium and pissing himself at Ben Stiller’s Tropic Thunder.
“It’s a great send-up of Hollywood,” he said. “It looked like they had a good time making it, and Robert Downey Jr was great. When they blow that guy’s head off… you couldn’t help laughing.” Of course, Kirk Lazarus wouldn’t fly today, but that doesn’t detract from the sheer boldness of Downey Jr’s Oscar-nominated turn.
Not only did Eastwood sit there as Tom Cruise started busting a move over the end credits while wearing a bald cap, fake beard, and prosthetic hands, but he fucking loved it. It’s not the greatest comedy ever made, and it’s probably nowhere close to being the genre’s best effort of the 21st century, either, but it’s the only one that the ‘Man with No Name’ has come out and publicly praised for tickling his ribs.
He doesn’t seem like someone who’d enjoy the collective work of Judd Apatow’s ‘Frat Pack’, but take several comedic heavy-hitters and drop them into a preposterous movie about making a movie, and he’s quite clearly on board.
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Clint Eastwood Newsletter
All the latest stories about Clint Eastwood from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.