In this movie, Clint Eastwood plays Mike Milo, a former Rodeo star who fell into a deep depression after his wife and kids died. During his spiral, he became such an undependable alcoholic that he lost his ranching job. But one day his old boss Howard Polk (Dwight Yokam) comes to him with a new job – retrieve his son Rafael from Mexico, even if that means kidnapping him. The movie is set in the late 1970s.
Mike goes down to Mexico and meets Rafael’s mother, Leta (Fernanda Urrejola). She is more interested in partying than in taking care of her son. Now that he’s a teenager she’s given up on him and written him off as a bad kid. Mike finds Rafael ( Eduardo Minett )and convinces him to return to the U.S. to live with his father. But Leta reports that Mike has kidnapped Rafael, so they have to avoid the federales. It turns out neither parent has good motives for getting the boy back, they both want to use Rafael to get money from the other.
On the run, Mike and Rafael end up stranded in a remote Mexican town. They start to build a life there – working, making friends, and having romances. Eventually, both Mike and Rafael have to make their own choice to stay in Mexico or go to the U.S.
Like many Eastwood movies, masculinity and aging are major themes. Unlike previous films, Eastwood’s character doesn’t end up being a secret badass. Eastwood and Milo’s perspective here is different; Milo even says at one point “that macho thing is overrated”. Instead of standing up to or outwitting his enemies, Mike Milo takes a more peaceful path.
This movie has an interesting premise, but it’s too meandering to be enjoyable the whole time. It’s easy to root for the characters of Mike and Rafael, but it’s not clear in the end what would actually be a happy ending for Rafael.
If you’re an Eastwood fan this is a continuation of his 21st-century works. But if you’re a fan of the earlier, more action-packed Eastwood films, you’ll likely find this boring. I’m rating this an HBO Now.