jshelm

I went into this film with mixed emotions, having read that it may be Clint's last film in front of the camera and my son's friends who had seen it telling me it was racist and nasty (18 year olds). Wow, what a film. My son and I were in tears at the end and for a film that could have fallen prey to so many cliché opportunities, it was clean, well cut and drove home some excellent characterizations without being maudlin or cheesy. If you wish to see a fine film that has great characters and a wonderful story to tell, do not hesitate to see this one. Clint Eastwood, despite his "Dirty Harry" image is one of the great film makers...period and for those of you who are film buffs, take a chance on a film that will make you laugh and cry in equal measures. Although I rarely rate a film a "10", I could not resist. Any flaws are overcome by the wonderful story and the rich characters in this film.

This film was a great deal of fun to watch, however the humor is not for everyone. I have been a fan of "The Onion" website for years and find the content (on the web) varies considerably in quality and is to some extent,a function of the mood you are in at the time. I would characterize this film as falling into the same category, i.e. gut busting humor that will leave you crying and other bits that fall flat. This shows the difficulty in translating a great website with really good satirical content to film. Some of the humor is very caustic and biting satire and requires you to be fairly open minded; there are some excellent pokes at politics, PC behavior, global conflicts and popular culture that are in the news today. I really enjoyed this film and would not recommend it for those under the age of 16.