Honkytonk Man (1982)

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers:

Clancy Carlile (novel)
Clancy Carlile (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 December 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Music

Tagline:

The boy is on his way to becoming a man. The man is on his way to becoming a legend.

Plot:

As the film opens on an Oklahoma farm during the depression, two simultaneous visitors literally hit...

Plot Keywords:

Tuberculosis | Jail Break | Recording Studio | Child Driving Car | Drunk Driver

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Red Stovall
Kyle Eastwood	...	Whit
John McIntire	...	Grandpa
Alexa Kenin	...	Marlene
Verna Bloom	...	Emmy
Matt Clark	...	Virgil
Barry Corbin	...	Arnspringer
Jerry Hardin	...	Snuffy
Tim Thomerson	...	Highway Patrolman
Macon McCalman	...	Dr. Hines
Joe Regalbuto	...	Henry Axle
Gary Grubbs	...	Jim Bob
Rebecca Clemons	...	Belle
Johnny Gimble	...	Bob Wills
Linda Hopkins	...	Blues Singer

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:K-8 | Australia:PG (video rating) | Spain:T | Argentina:13 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | South Korea:12 | Australia:M | Norway:12 | UK:15 | USA:PG (certificate #26873) | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Birds Landing, California, USA

Company:

Malpaso Company, The

Trivia:

The script originally called for Kyle Eastwood's character to get high from smoking marijuana, but Clint Eastwood, who is very anti-drug, refused, even with Kyle even using a prop cigarette. Eastwood finally relented to his son's character getting high from a contact buzz.

Quotes:

Henry Axle: You don't think he should be doing this, do you?
Whit: Do you? Knowing it might kill him?
Henry Axle: Want me to level with you, pal? He's going to die anyway, and he knows it. And he knows that this is his last chance.
Whit: Last chance? For what?
Henry Axle: To be somebody. Did you ever feel like you wanted to be somebody? If he makes these recordings - who knows?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Blues" (2003)

Soundtrack:

No Sweeter Cheater Than You

Decent story, but not very authentic in details

This movie has an okay story, a bit in the road-trip theme, and Eastwood's son, Kyle, is an okay actor, but the other actors don't impress me much. Eastwood didn't seem to care much about making the movie an authentic "period piece", and you will often see details in the background from modern times, as well as the haircuts, which are obviously from the early 80's. Several times he shows musicians and they seemed to put the least amount of effort into looking authentic. At the Grand 'Ol Opry, the female singer who is on after Eastwood is singing in a modern style, and anyone who listens to music from the 1930's knows that doesn't fit. Even the music the bands are playing has a 70's/80's sound to it. Maybe they should have got T-Bone Burnett as musical director! They could have had a band on in the vein of the Carter Family, instead. I guess they had a limited budget and it shows, but it could have been a much better movie than it turned out to be. Other things I noticed were, the cement curbs in the really luxurious looking cemetery in the film with all the green grass and trees...excuse me, this is in the 1930's, and as far as I can tell, most graveyards didn't look that maintained, as there was little money. Little things like that that kind of ruin the illusion of a rough period in the US. Even the cars sitting outside the Ryman Theater are highly polished and obviously collector pieces rented for the film and the owners didn't want to get any dust on them. With all the detail Eastwood put into his later masterpiece films, I am a little disappointed, but it is still a decent movie, I gave it a 6 out of 10.