Cry Macho

Thirty-eight-year-old Michael "Mike" Milo is a divorced alcoholic and experienced rodeo star in Galveston, Texas. Suffering from tennis elbow and severe headaches, Mike arrives late to the rodeo stadium he works at, Polk's Cow Stadium, which is owned by his boss, Howard Polk. Participating in the "Ride-Out", an event where a rodeo cowboy attempts to "ride-out" a horse (an event he himself created to avoid getting fired), Mike is trampled by a newly-added horse, and is hospitalized with a broken leg.

At the hospital, Mike remembers losing his parents at the age of five, dropping out of college after his grandparents died in a house fire, working alongside his first employer Mr. Croag, an animal husbandry inspector for the Department of Agriculture who once tasked him with putting down down a dozen horses, and his personal move into becoming a rodeo cowboy.

A few weeks later, Mike is released from the hospital with a weak leg. Returning to the stadium and prepared to work, Mike is surprised to find out that he has been laid off. The next day, Mike finds out that his ex-wife Donna has remarried. Saddened by the news, Mike sells most of his awards and prized possessions at a local bar.

Five years ago, Howard went through a divorce and lost custody of his only son, Rafael "Rafo" Polk, who was sent to Mexico to live with his mom. In the present, Howard meets with Mike, attempting to persuade him into kidnapping Rafo and transporting him back to Texas, promising $50,000 (which Howard will obtain as ransom money from Rafo's mom) in return. Initially rejecting the offer, Mike remembers the time he unsuccessfully defended a hooker named Cissy Brewer from a hostile Ewell Macmillian, the former owner and co-founder of the Polk's Cow Stadium, who forced a horse onto Cissy. Ewell was given a suspended sentence, and he was replaced by Howard shortly after. Cissy, who had been traumatized by the event, became homeless and mentally ill. In the present, Mike decides to help Howard retrieve his son.

After being given a dark blue panel truck, Mike drives down the Pan-American Highway and arrives in Mexico City, where he finds Rafo living in a mansion-like house with his mom, Alexandra "Lexa" Muños de Santis Polk, in the Lomas de Chapultepec. At midnight, while sneaking into the home, Mike becomes dizzy and suffers a fall that knocks him unconscious. Waking up, Mike is tended to by Lexa, who has learned of his intentions. Upset, Lexa reveals to Mike that Rafo doesn't live with her, and instead lives as a gambling thief out in the streets. Allowed to leave, Mike departs from the home and begins his search for Rafo.

A few days later, Mike finds Rafo participating in a cockfight in Tepito. Before he can talk to him, Rafo runs away after the event is interrupted by a police raid. Shortly after, Mike finds Rafo's white rooster (nicknamed "Macho"), which he uses to bait Rafo into talking with him at a cafe. Once there, Rafo agrees to travel to Texas to reunite with his dad. The next day, Rafo meets with Mike alongside Macho. Following a short altercation, the pair begin their journey to the southern border, where they plan to pass illegally.

In San Luis Potosí, Mike has his panel truck, money, and Macho stolen by a group of thieves. Using a public bus as transportation, the pair arrive in Janasco, where Mike finds and recovers his stolen truck, and Rafo reunites with Macho. The next day, the pair meet and become friends with Marta, a poor widow with who Mike becomes intimate with. After Marta suffers severe burns due to the burning of her jacal, Mike and Rafo depart from Janasco.

Driving towards the border, the pair stop after noticing a patrol car following them. During their wait, a vulture flies away with Macho, saddening Rafo. At night, the pair are confronted by two officers from the national patrol, who search the car and ask Rafo his intentions of traveling to the United States. After Rafo lies about his plan to meet his father at the border, the officers follow the pair to a motel, with the intent of hearing Howard confirm the statement through a phone call.

At the motel, located two kilometers away from the border, Howard refuses to admit his involvement with Mike, resulting in the arrests of both Mike and Rafo, for kidnapping and petty theft, respectively. Allowed to stay at the motel till dawn, Rafo learns that his father wanted to be with him simply to battle Lexa in court for her money. In the morning, the pair escape in their separate ways, with Mike continuing his journey to Texas, and Rafo returning to the town of Janasco. To ensure Rafo's safety, Mike has the officers pursue him, which ends with him reaching Texas, with a gunshot wound on his shoulder. Realizing Mike is in the US, the officers decide to dismiss the case to avoid punishment for their failures.

Ignoring his injury, Mike decides to return to Mexico, for the chance of reuniting with Rafo, once again.

Writing for the Southwest Review, Arthur Ramirez compared the themes found in Cry Macho to the one's found in the play, The Rainmaker, which was also written by N. Richard Nash. Drawing parallels between both stories, Arthur noted that both shared similar characters, and settings throughout. Solely on Cry Macho, Ramirez concluded that the major theme of the novel surrounded the acceptance of loss, with Mike having to face his "fear, anxiety, and an inferiority complex" while in Mexico.[3]

Originally written as a screenplay under the title Macho, N. Richard Nash adapted the story into a novel after failing to sell the screenplay.

"I had a screenplay called Macho that no one wanted. It occurred to me to do a quick novelization. I got a $10,000 advance and completed it as Cry Macho in two weeks. It got surprisingly good reviews and the instant they appeared, three studios, all of which had rejected the screenplay, started to bid for this awful, little thing. I sold the rights to one. When they asked me to do the screenplay, I gave them what they had rejected -- didn't change a word -- and they loved it!"

— N. Richard Nash in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel[4]

On June 11, 1975, Cry Macho was published in the United States by the Delacorte Press, a publishing company in New York.

Writing for the Kirkus Reviews magazine, an anonymous writer summarized Cry Macho as "straight storytelling, perhaps a bit sentimental."[5] Comparing the novel to C. W. Smith's Country Music, Henry L. Alsmeyer Jr. wrote: "Cry Macho is more interesting, and, indeed, some fun," noting that there was "both story and character development."[6]

In 1988, Clint Eastwood reported his interest in creating an adaptation of the novel but skipped the project to work on his reprising role as Dirty Harry in The Dead Pool.[7][8] Following a failed attempt by Roy Scheider in 1991,[9] Vulture reported in 2011 that Brad Furman had been set to direct a Cry Macho adaptation produced by Al Ruddy.[10][11][12] The film, which had been announced at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and had cast Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role, was cancelled shortly after Arnold's divorce with Maria Shriver.[13][14][15] Nine years later, in 2020, it was announced that Eastwood would direct, produce, and star in an adaptation of the novel for Warner Bros. Pictures and HBO Max.[16][17][18] On October 27, 2020, it was reported that the film would be shot in New Mexico, with production taking place from November 4 to December 16, 2020.[19] A day after filming wrapped, it was announced that Eduardo Minett, Dwight Yoakam, Natalia Traven, Horacio Garcia Rojas, and Fernanda Urrejola would star in the film.[20][21]

• Cry Macho on Google Books
• Cry Macho at the Open Library
• Cry Macho at the Internet Archive