THE LONG RIDE OF THE HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER: SHAWN LEVY'S CLINT:THE MAN AND THE MOVIES

Just so you know for this review, I'm a diehard Clint Eastwood fan. As both actor and director I can defend everything except Pink Cadillac. So I Was happy to hear Shawn Levy, biographer on the likes of Paul Newman and Robert De Niro, took on the icon with Clint: The Man and the movies. He covers the almost seventy year career of one of the most enduring artists with a stare as strong as his subject's.

While, I'm usually not that interested in an artist's early life beforE he creates the art, Levy dives in to connect it to his future. Growing up in The Depression with a hardworking father who couldn't always find work, put a work ethic into him as well as drive and understanding to gain as much control over one's career as possible. However, Levy also paints him as a daydreamer, not interested in school because it held little that interested him. This dreamer aspect, set him apart from the crowd. Eventually in his teens his good looks and natural charm attracted girls as well as loyal friends, many fellow jazz fans who were involved in the arts.

Before figuring out what he wanted to do with is life, the draft caught him. To avoid Korea, he used his lifeguard background to become a swimming instructor. Levy describes in harrowing detail, a near death experience he had, when a plane he was taking back from leave crashed in Pacific miles from shore.Levy insinuates this helps form his gdrive and nature to take gambles. The Army also influenced him in meeting buddy and future Fugitive David Jansen who suggested he pursue acting with him when they got out. So did an officer who knew some studio folks.

The book puts a lot of emphasis on his struggle and rise to success and how he took in those times. He sees himself at the mercy of people who make bad decisions, not getting much more than day player parts for years. Even when he snags the lucrative and steady role of Rowdy Yates in Rawhide, he becomes frustrated with how little he character is able to grow over the seasons. It is the main reason he takes the chance to go to Italy to make The Magnificent Stranger, later named A Fistful Of Dollars, kicking of a trilogy of movies directed by Sergio Leone that make him and international star. Still, he feels boxed in to the whims of studios who put him in pictures that fail to deliver what the script he read promised. He also notices the bloat on budgets. It all pushes him to use use his star power and form his own production company, Malpaso, focusing initially on modest projects he could star in and later direct.

For over fifty years, he navigated his stardom and persona that allowed longevity you find in few leading men or directors. He learned a lot working with the unpretentious director Don Siegel on many of the early Malpaso films. With an eye on the budget, even his less successful work has either broke even or turned a profit overseas. Many gambles turned into surprise hits like Every Which Way But Loose and The Mule. Levy gives us insight to the handshake deal he had with Warner Brothers for decades and its history that has allowed him to work in his way. Through triumphs and some missteps we watch how he outlasts one era of Hollywood , yet carries it on into other eras.

Levy is the first biographer to look deeply into Eastwood's work in this century. He shows us how his interests attracted him to those projects. He also examines being an icon and how he uses it. He also shows the pitfalls in the way that he sees himself at his age, doesn't always translate to the audience of how they perceive a character in advanced years.

In the prologue, Levy cites two biographies, Clint: A BIography by Richard Schickel, a freind of the subject who had amazing acces and wrote a fawning take, and Clint: The Life and Legend by Patrick McGilligan, a scatthig take that attacked him as a man and artist that Eastwood sued for libel. Levy declares his plan is to depict "the massive space in between".As the fan I am, argued with him about the films he feels don't work, yet I couldn't argue with many the points he made about their failures. This made the praises more powerful and I also saw those movies in a different angle.

When looking at him as a person, he sees a double edge sword to his ambition and need for freedom in all aspects of his life. It makes him a triumph as a filmmaker and movies star, but hinders his personal relationships. His infidelity, even if he made no promises to his partner, lead to may broken relationships and a relationship with many of his children that is best described as "complicated". I felt more than ever had for actress/director in her battles with Eastwood than I have any ony other coverage of it. The book made me realize how he had longer relationships with most of his crew members than any woman in his life.

Shawn Levy's Clint: THe Man and his Movies covers a legendary artist who is unique due to his longevity as both leading man. and director. At one point Levy asks, how many times can a filmmaker make a piece that reflects on his body of work. For me, one moment sums up the book, During one of his shoots in this century, a crew member offers Clint a slice of pizza. Health nut Eastwood declines. "There are a lot more movies I want to make."