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Actors should act; suits should be suits

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clint eastwood at the 2012 republican convention

“Well, um, uh … and then, you know … Obama … haff kaff …”

Well, I hope I look that good when I’m 82. On the other hand, I hope I sound a whole lot better. Clint Eastwood may be immune to embarrassment at this point, but his performance in Tampa last night — an old guy doing a really bad Bob Newhart impression at an assisted-living center — is probably not the way he would choose to be remembered.

Never mind the politics: blaming Obama for Gitmo and Afghanistan and high unemployment throughout a time of record corporate profits. It was just really awful delivery. Eastwood is a great director, one of the best ever, but as a speaker he’s best with the terse, scripted lines his characters made memorable. Actors who ad-lib are destined to disappoint.

Yeah, he was still more believable than the dewey-eyed Romney. But that’s not setting the bar real high. Memo to Mitt: You’ve made your living as a hard-nosed executive; maybe you should try to own that, instead of posing as the sensitive romantic, the Tom Joad of Tampa. It doesn’t suit you. Roll down those shirtsleeves, man. Nobody’s buying it.

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Comments

  3. BTW, how big do you think Clint’s paycheck was for that gig? Maybe he’ll use it to finance his next movie.

  4. In all fairness, we must admit that Obama’s been jumping up to the podium with rolled-up sleeves for a LONG time! Maybe they should both tone it down…

  5. Funny, in real life, Eastwood has personal values in direct opposition to those the Republican Party claims to have.