The Enforcer (1976)

Director: James Fargo

Cast: Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Bradford Dillman, Tyne Daly

Have I Seen It Before: Never.

Did I Like It: Is it possible that Dirty Harry Callahan (Eastwood) is actually funny? I mean, this film certainly seems to think he is and Eastwood is given more one -liners and absurd situations to deal with than he’s gotten in any film that doesn’t involve a monkey. I found myself laughing out loud more than I do with an average comedy.

But if Harry were really the absolutely mean-spirited one-man war on crime that our collective pop cultural consciousness has decided he was, it would be hard to laugh with him amidst a ridiculous world.

But here’s the thing. He isn’t. He dislikes absurdity, and is apt not to participate in it, but in a city like San Francisco that is filled to the brim with the kind of people that would drive a lesser steely-eyed conservative icon to hate everyone in sight. He’s curt, sure. He’s more into doing the job as he sees it, consequences be damned.

But he’s not a fundamentally mean man, especially if you aren’t obviously committing a felony right in front of him at that very moment, doubly so if you’re in a position of authority over him. He really hates that. He gets attached to partners quite easily, in fact. Which one might forgive him for being a dick to the litany of sad sacks who get tethered to him, as they keep dropping like flies. But this doesn’t stop him from both begrudgingly respecting and eventually mourning his latest buddy, Inspector Kate Moore (Daly). This feels like the kind of opinion that will get some red hat to trebuchet me, but I think the only reason they call him Dirty Harry is because Cuddly Bear Harry wouldn’t have looked as good on a poster.

It’s entirely possible that The Enforcer will wind up being one of my favorite of the Dirty Harry films. I’m reserving judgment, as that last one has Liam Neeson and Jim Carrey running around the edges with wacky hairdos, and I wait for that with bated breath.

Dirty Harry (1971)

Director: Don Siegel

Cast: Clint Eastwood, Andy Robinson, Harry Guardino, John Vernon

Have I Seen It Before: Yes, at some point. Although I’ll admit that I was drawn to the film less for Eastwood’s iconic portrayal of Callahan, and more as an avowed Deep Space Nine fan, I showed up for Andy Robinson’s (Andrew J. Robinson, to his friends) turn as “the killer.”

Is that the most desperately nerdy reason to watch an Eastwood film? It might be, but I also can’t imagine I’m the only one that came to the film that way.

Did I Like It: And there is certainly something to be said for that performance. Robinson is cowardly, dastardly, sniveling, and any other adjective you might use to describe a cartoon heavy, all with still making the Killer always seem as if he is some kind of horrid mutation of a human, but human nonetheless. The pitch-black soul he brings to the film makes a misanthrope like Harry (Eastwood) never seem like he is anything other than the bad guy.

Is Harry Callahan a complete misanthrope? Characters around him certainly seem to think so. But he is kind to his partner and his wife, even though he never really wanted the partner around to begin with. He doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder reflexively, every chip was placed there by someone looking for an easy way out of responsibility. All of that preceding paragraph may start to make one think that I’m somehow going to change my own politics and start talking to empty chairs onstage. Let me assure you, if Harry could get over his own dick for a moment, he might have avoided an honest screw up by putting the heat on the Killer without a search warrant or probable cause, allowing him to be released. Harry is really dumb, but he means well. I offer into evidence his final action in the film, chucking his badge into the water. How does Magnum Force (1973) begin? Him fishing for a badge? Only one way to find out, I suppose.