# Don't you just love Clint? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 9, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184 "2010-09-09T15:02:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/1 "2010-09-09T15:02:13Z")
[http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-no-tights-no-tuxedo-eastwood-reveals-he-passed-on-iconic-roles.html](http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-no-tights-no-tuxedo-eastwood-reveals-he-passed-on-iconic-roles.html) In almost every interview I have seen with Eastwood he has the same self-effacing approach. It’s almost like he’s trying to show how much acting it takes to play somebody so opposite to his own personality. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/2 "2010-09-09T15:17:52Z")
Damn, I was hoping this was going to be about the Howard brother with talent. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/3 "2010-09-09T15:26:28Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Damn, I was hoping this was going to be about the Howard brother with talent. Go for it! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![hopesperson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@hopesperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hopesperson)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/4 "2010-09-09T15:47:52Z")
To answer the OP’s question, yes, I really do love Clint. He has turned into my favorite actor and one of my favorite directors over the years. I hope we have him for many more years – I’ll be very sad to see him go someday. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/5 "2010-09-09T15:57:12Z")
He was right to pass on both of those roles, by the way. His intuition about knowing what kind of roles to choose are part of success. He’s never put himself in anything where he would have seemed miscast, and he would have been badly miscast as either Superman or James Bond. James Bond, especially. Were they expecting Clint to do a fake British accent? I’m pretty sure Clint Eastwood was never exactly Meryl Streep when it came to accents, and that would have been a recipe for disaster. Knowing when a part isn’t right for you, even if it’s a big, juicy, lucrative part, is something a lot of actors could stand to learn. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/6 "2010-09-09T16:04:27Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > His intuition about knowing what kind of roles to choose are part of success. How do you explain Gran Torino? As for the man, meh. I do love a lot of his older movies and Rowdy! Yehaw. ---
**Author:** ![hopesperson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@hopesperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hopesperson)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/7 "2010-09-09T16:10:55Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > > His intuition about knowing what kind of roles to choose are part of success. > > How do you explain Gran Torino? As for the man, meh. I do love a lot of his older movies and Rowdy! Yehaw. Not to answer for **Diogenes the Cynic** , but what about it? It was critically acclaimed and did reasonably well at the box office, as I recall. It certainly did nothing to impair his status a highly successful actor/director. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/8 "2010-09-09T16:22:59Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > > His intuition about knowing what kind of roles to choose are part of success. > > How do you explain Gran Torino? What about it? He was perfect in it. What other man in his 80’s can say “get off my lawn” and still sound badass? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/9 "2010-09-09T16:27:57Z")
I like the real Clint. He’s a jazz player and fan, like me, and he has a classy ease about him. The screen Clint would probably break my jaw soon as look at me. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/10 "2010-09-09T16:30:50Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > > His intuition about knowing what kind of roles to choose are part of success. > > How do you explain Gran Torino? Are you kidding me? That movie was fucking amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/11 "2010-09-09T16:35:06Z")
Clint is a da man - a very talented actor and director. _In the Line of Fire_ is one of my alltime favorite movies: action, adventure, history, psychology, romance, politics. It’s all in there. That said, I’ve read that he’s treated some of his girlfriends poorly over the years - not physical abuse, but love-'em-and-leave-'em callousness. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/12 "2010-09-09T16:50:47Z")
I think Clint Howard is actually Charles Martin Smith’s brother, not Ronnie’s. BTW, their mother was in \*“Apollo 13”, playing Jim Lovell’s mother. She proudly says that “My Jimmy could fly a washing machine!” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/13 "2010-09-09T16:53:36Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > I think Clint Howard is actually Charles Martin Smith’s brother, not Ronnie’s. BTW, their mother was in \*“Apollo 13”, playing Jim Lovell’s mother. She proudly says that “My Jimmy could fly a washing machine!” My favorite line: she asks Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, “Are you boys in the space program too?” ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/14 "2010-09-09T16:57:35Z")
Let us not forget Cheyenne, Clint Walker, if we’re going to start listing the non-Eastwood Clints. Is it that Clint sounds like Flint that makes it sound so tough? What if Bob Steele had been Flint Steele? Better than Bob Cox, right? ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/15 "2010-09-09T16:58:23Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > > [@PlainJain](#): > > > > How do you explain Gran Torino? > > Are you kidding me? That movie was fucking amazing. Different strokes I guess. It was painful for me to watch. His overt growling was more humorous than badass to me. His racism was _way_ over the top. But I concede the point **hopesperson** made. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/16 "2010-09-09T17:07:52Z")
I’ve always been a fan - and one of his movies was one of the first _real_ dates I ever went on, so I have fond memories of his movies too. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/17 "2010-09-09T17:18:34Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > > [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > > > Are you kidding me? That movie was fucking amazing. > > Different strokes I guess. It was painful for me to watch. His overt growling was more humorous than badass to me. His racism was _way_ over the top. I’m exposed to ten times as much racism every time I turn on my computer. In fact, you’re the first person I’ve talked to who didn’t like the movie (though I haven’t really gone around talking to people about it). ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/18 "2010-09-09T17:39:04Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Clint is a da man - a very talented actor and director. _In the Line of Fire_ is one of my alltime favorite movies: action, adventure, history, psychology, romance, politics. It’s all in there. Just to clarify, while Eastwood did a fine job of acting (and mildly subverting his unsentimental Dirty Harry/Uomo senza nome persona) in _In The Line Of Fire_, this film was directed by Wolfgang Peterson (of _Das Boot_, _A Perfect Storm_, and a bunch of other forgettable crap). Eastwood has directed many other memorable films, both with him in front of the camera and not, including _High Plains Drifter_, _Bird_, _White Hunter, Black Heart_, _Unforgiven_, _Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil_, _Mystic River_, _Invictus_, et cetera. Even if he’d never stepped in front of the camera, he’d be known as a steady producing, top shelf director whose oeuvre covers several distinct genres (westerns, action/police procedural, biopics, romance, science fiction, drama, sport), and even though he’s stumbled on a few films, he’s never been unwilling to take a risk, and he’s succeeded more often than he’s failed. His range as an actor is more limited, but within that range he’s phenomenal. Nobody says, “Get off my lawn!” with more veiled menace than a 78 year old Eastwood. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/19 "2010-09-09T17:42:44Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Different strokes I guess. It was painful for me to watch. His overt growling was more humorous than badass to me. His racism was _way_ over the top. But I concede the point **hopesperson** made. If you think his portrayal of an old, embittered Detroit assembly line worker whose formerly whitebread, middle-class neighborhood transformed into an immigrant neighborhood was “way over the top” then you’ve never actually been exposed to this kind of person. If anything, he was more restrained than otherwise. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184/20 "2010-09-09T19:01:14Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > . In fact, you’re the first person I’ve talked to who didn’t like the movie (though I haven’t really gone around talking to people about it). Apparently you missed the thread on it here, then. It was far short of universally beloved. Mr. singular and I never got through the whole thing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-you-just-love-clint/553184.md?page=2)