'Every Which Way But Loose' a Humorous, Lively Classic
- Matt Palmer
- Sep 25, 2021
- 2 min read
** This is a write up review I did for the Clint Eastwood comedy last year while the Dietrich was closed and was working on classics the theater shown way back in the day!
In the 1978 Warner Brothers presentation of "Every Which Way But Loose,"" a tough trucker with a cheeky orangutan, Philo Beddoe moonlights as a fighter, with his close friend Orville Boggs setting up matches for him. When Philo begins dating country singer Lynn Halsey-Taylor, and she abruptly disappears, he goes off in search for her, his simian companion and Orville in tow.
On their cross-country trek, Philo and friends repeatedly clash with bikers, leading up to a violent showdown.
"Every Which Way But Loose" was Clint Eastwood's first movie under the comedy genre. This feature has a little bit of everything (including some action) and is quite entertaining. The chemistry between Eastwood and actor Geoffrey Lewis (who played Orville) is great and some of their scenes are quite humorous. Even some of the moments with Eastwood and the orangutan are truly amusing. And, if you are a big fan of country music, then you will really enjoy the movie's soundtrack, including the theme song also titled "Every Which Way But Loose" recorded by Eddie Rabbit. So, make sure to give this Clint Eastwood flick a look. Filled with some good laughs, great music, some fun moments between Eastwood and an orangutan, and even some action that involves bare-knuckle boxing, "Every Which Way But Loose" is worth the look!
The cast: Clint Eastwood as Philo Beddoe, Sondra Locke as Lynn Halsey-Taylor, Geoffrey Lewis as Orville, Walter Barnes as Tank Merdock, Roy Jenson as Woody, James McEachin as Herb, Bill McKinney as Dallas, William O'Connell as Elmo, Gregory Walcott as Putnam, Ruth Gordon as Ma, Beverly D'Angelo as Echo and Manis the Orangutan as Clyde. "Every Which Way But Loose" is written by Jeremy Joe Kronsberg and directed by James Fargo.
The script for this movie had been turned down by many other big production companies in Hollywood. The movie was originally envisioned as a Burt Reynolds vehicle, but Eastwood unexpectedly took a liking to the project, seeing it as a way to broaden his appeal to the public.
Reportedly, Eastwood was nervous about doing a comedy and contacted Burt Reynolds for advice since Reynolds had a lot of experience doing comedies. A few years after its initial release, this movie was re-released on a double-bill with its 1980 sequel "Any Which Way You Can."
Adjusted for inflation, this is actually the biggest hit in Eastwood's career.
"Every Which Way You Loose" is rated PG and has a running time of 114 minutes. You can find this Clint Eastwood feature via the HBO Max streaming service.
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