ABC Film Challenge – Action – O – Any Which Way You Can (1980) Movie Review

This is under O because of Clyde being an Orangutan.

Director: Buddy Van Horn

Writer: Buddy Van Horn (Screenplay)

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Geoffrey Lewis, Williamm Smith, Harry Guardino, Ruth Gordon, Michael Cavanaugh

Plot: A trucker turned prize fighter, his brother and their pet orangutan have a series of misadventures involving the mob, corrupt cops, motorcycle gangs and pretty dames.

Tagline – Faster, funnier and wilder. It’ll knock you out.

Runtime: 1 Hour 56 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Any Which Way You Can starts as we meet trucker Philo Beddoe (Eastwood) and is partner in crime Clyde the orangutan, as they take on different fights for money, ones he will always come up the winner in.

When Philo accepts a high value fight for a group of gangsters, he is talked out of it by his friends and family, only to learn the gangsters aren’t going to take no for an answer.

Thoughts on Any Which Way You Can

Thoughts – Any Which Way You Can is an action comedy that will see Philo and Clyde getting into a range of troubles, that they will always find a way out of along the way. This is until he finds himself in a fight he can’t just walk away from, needing to put his fighting together to fight the deadliest opponent this of his career. This is a sequel that will see the two get into more trouble, but will need to find a solution that isn’t on the same level as many people would expect, which might add into extra levels of the comedy. The running gags of the biker gang and cops always trying to catch Philo will get laughs, despite taking away from the main story going on. Clint Eastwood does a great job in the leading role, showing a lighter side to his performance, which we don’t see too often. This is an easy to watch action comedy that will get the laughs when needed and hold the serious side together too.

Final Thoughts – Any Which Way You Can is a fun easy to watch action comedy.