EASTWOOD: THE ROOKIE OF ALCATRAZ

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S3 E8 ESCAPE FROM CHARLIE SHEEN'S POOL HOUSE 

1979's ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ, directed by podcast fave Don Donald Siegel (Coogan's Bluff, The Beguiled, Dirty Harry, Two Mules For Sister Sara),  remains one of Clint's most memorable films. Turning down the laffs and winks that dominated a good portion of his 70's output, Eastwood is as taut here as Siegel's film detailing the heist-like planning and execution of... well, it's in the title. Ken saw it in theaters in 1979 and for years remembered it as being in black and white. Guess what, young Ken? It isn't! How does it hold up compared with the 639 other Eastwood films we have covered? Find out!

Then 1990's THE ROOKIE, co-starring Charlie Sheen as a man who killed his brother (no, Emilio!!!) as a child or... something?  They jump off a roof we think? Then, even though he is rich, he becomes THE ROOKIE to Clint's grizzled old pro of a donut-chomping, cigar-smoking cop. Also featuring Raul Julia and Sonia Braga as, um, German car thieves?!?! We think? Yeah, we have no idea either. What the heck is going on here?  We will talk about the infamous scene between Clint and Braga, so don't worry or... worry. A lot. It's one of a kind, we will give it that. Eastwood made this for Warner Bros to pay back them after financing the little-seen White Hunter, Black Heart earlier in 1990 and The Rookie subsequently bombed as well. Go figure. When Lara Flynn Boyle is a beacon of good sense and tranquility in your movie, you are in trouble. Jack Green's reliably crisp and dark cinematography slaps so it is not all confounding.

Unforgiven was two years away so this story ends well but Clint was stumbling bigly at this point, both artistically and at the box office. Huge turning point in his career looking back. But does that make it worth watching? Listen and find out!

ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ: 00:03:30

THE ROOKIE 00:43:05