80/80-The ever changing man

The Rookie (1992) is a poor film and flopped badly at the box office, suggesting that Eastwood's best days were now firmly behind him. However the following year would see him return with the awesome, brilliant, superfandabbydozey, The Unforgiven and since then he's not put a foot wrong.

Mind you The Rookie did take $43 million while Eastwood's previous movie, White Hunter, Black Heart, only $8.4 million. This shows the often bizarre tastes of the movie goer - The Rookie is nonsense while White Hunter,Black Heart, is a superb and courageous film. In my own opinion The Rookie ranks alongside Pink Cadillac as contenders for Clint's worse movie, while White Hunter, Black Heart, would be firmly in the top ten.


It is incredible that the same man could have made such different movies back to back - many critics commented on the fact. White Hunter, Black Heart was a literal adaptation of its source novel with Eastwood striving to get inside the character while The Rookie was as shallow as a puddle on a newly laid lawn.


Both movies though were considered box office failures, especially in terms of Clint's previous films. But Clint was shrewd enough to know that he needed to return to familiar territory - he had been sitting on the script for The William Munny Killings and threw himself into the project. He would emerge with one of the best westerns ever made.