Coogan's Bluff
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Movie Reviews of Coogan's Bluff
Movie Review: Stranger in a Stranger Land
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a "fish out of water" story. Clint Eastwood plays a deputy sheriff from rural Arizona. He is a westerner in the sense of the western movies. He is strong, confident about women and does not tolerate obstruction in any form. He has also hacked off his boss so he gets sent to New York City to extradite a prisoner. That's bad enough but this is NYC of the 60s with all of the additional strangeness brought on by that decade.
While there, he finds that picking up the prisoner is not as easy as it should be. He is bogged down by administrative procedures seeming designed to keep anyone from getting anything done. Worse, it keeps him in NYC waiting. He decides to take matters into his own hands and bluffs his way into custody of the prisoner. He is about to head back to Arizona when he gets bushwhacked and the prisoner escapes. Now he has to deal with a hostile NYCPD and track down a prisoner in very unfamiliar surroundings while the local police threaten to arrest him if he interferes any more.
This is a good but dated story. It has action but not as much as most modern movies. The chase scene seems rather tame. Still, it is about the good guy breaking the rules to bring in the bad guy. Dirty Harry would approve
Movie Review: Clint in the City
Summary: 3 Stars
The second Don Siegel movie from 1968 about a cop in NYC hunting the killer who stole his gun. (Paging Dr. Freud.) This one has some of the same cast as Madigan, but it's more set-bound and has a T.V. movie feel. Not to mention the instantly dated hippie scenes. (Plus, it's hard to feel much menace when one of the principal heavies is played by David Doyle!) It's odd to think that Clint didn't always enjoy a solid reputation as an actor, because he's easily better than anyone else here.
And note the motorcycle chase through the Cloisters that foreshadows Black Rain.
Movie Review: Wished It Was Better.
Summary: 2 Stars
Viewed: 7/07
Rate: 4
7/07: Ok...what was that? Was Coogan's Bluff the weirdest Eastwood movie I've seen, or was Clint Eastwood trying to audition for a role in adult film? Despite the fact that I think Coogan's Bluff is a good warm-up to Dirty Harry, the movie lacks the essentials in order to be in the same league as Dirty Harry. In fact, just about everything in Coogan's Bluff was never solid. Clint Eastwood gave his less-than-usual performance with the beginning touches that would soon later be his trademark. I think, looking at the overall picture, it's the plot that ruined the picture as well as the direction of the story. To think about this idea, Coogan takes his guy to the airport, then gets whacked in the head and loses him, and finally apprehends the original guy in the end. And that's it. In between, he puts in a lot of time chasing different women. One was clean, but Coogan showed no interest in her sexually. So, what does he do? He runs after a loony junkie and gives her a one night stand. On the other hand, I found it odd that Coogan would turn down a sleazy old lady from his hotel where he was staying. She seemed to be his type. In the beginning, I am introduced to Coogan while he gets a different guy. For his reward, Coogan jumps in the bathtub with a different female. I think the title is a big misnomer, but maybe not...because I was expecting a Dirty Harry picture since Don Siegel had collaborated with Clint Eastwood in the later films. Instead I was bluffed. Exactly, but I am disappointed. It could have worked out better had there been a more refined story, a better direction, and an improved sense of purpose. Probably also that the villain is needed to be replaced or improved since he was extremely bland to start with. Lee J. Cobb's involvement is definitely all wasted in Coogan's Bluff, and he nearly has no character development except to gruff Coogan out. It's similar to watching the parody from So I Married an Axe Murderer, and it seemed to be imperative to get that kind of treatment in order to get results. Yet Coogan looked flat. I knew he would succeed in the end, but that's expected, right? Something in Coogan's Bluff I haven't seen before, except for Mission: Impossible 2, is the motorcycle on motorcycle chase. It's not bad but incomparable to Bullitt. Want to know Coogan's first name? Walt. Walt Coogan as in Walt Disney. There isn't any redeeming value in watching Coogan's Bluff. It's about as standard as a soft core adult film minus, of course, the sex and nudity. Undoubtedly, there are far better Eastwood films than this junky Coogan's Bluff. The reason for that is the lack of a worthy villain. Dirty Harry? It was Andy Robinson who gave his brilliant performance in Scorpio. Unforgiven? It was Gene Hackman that made Little Bill memorable. Sudden Impact? It was Paul Drake that gave a very underrated villainous performance as Mick. In the Line of Fire? It was John Malkovich who gave an interesting portrait of a would-be-assassin. Play Misty for Me? It was Jessica Walter who played the crazy stalker Evelyn. There are many more, and the point is: it takes a great villain to bring out the Eastwood in Clint in order to produce a memorable Eastwood picture. That's all it takes. Coogan's Bluff could have worked out with that shoddy script if the villain was more polished in the likes of those I've mentioned previously. Again, Coogan's Bluff is a good learning experience. Dirty Harry is the result, and it is a great study in seeing how much they have improved from Coogan's Bluff. While I've said a lot of bad things about the picture, that song The Pigeon-Toed Orange Peel takes the cake. Who the heck would enjoy that music, especially the lyrics? Oh right...I forgot...the heavily drugged out population. Very, very little of Eastwood moments are found in Coogan's Bluff. The top highlight is when Coogan smashes a beer or wine bottle and gives the black guy his famous look. That was sorely missed in Coogan's Bluff.
Movie Review: Seems to be edited
Summary: 2 Stars
Limp movie by today's standards, with jarring switches from locations in NY to obvious Universal studios backlot. Very TV movie in its look and overuse of extreme closeups. A view of the 60's counterculture that didn't even ring true then. I also seem to recall that when I saw this in the 60's that Susan Clark points out the actual Coogan's Bluff (a real natural landmark in NY) to Eastwood's character during their scene above the Cloisters. She tells a little story about it, tying it to the character's "bluff" about how tough he is. If I am recalling correctly, that scene has been clumsily trimmed out on this DVD. Note how in one shot Eastwood is wearing his hat, but in the very next one it is off. At that point the dialogue appears to jump from one subject to an entirely different one. Without this scene the title doesn't even make sense anymoreMovie Review: 10-gallon Hat Eastwood in New York City
Summary: 2 Stars
This is great for Eastwood lovers, unless you don't like to see him getting beaten up and bloodied (on several occasions). However, he does beat up lots of baddies in return and makes love to lots of chicks.