Overrated

Let's be realistic.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

"Coogan's Bluff" was the first time Clint Eastwood worked with Don Siegel and the film certainly delivers. A mere rating of 6.5 doesn't do "Coogan's Bluff" justice. There is some good action, a pretty good story and great direction. I can see that the budget for the film was rather sparse but I didn't let that deter me from enjoying the first of five collaborations from this talented combination. Clint Eastwood and Don Siegel complimented each other very well. It's always good to see character actors like Lee J. Cobb as the tough New York cop.

(Originally reviewed: 10/02/2017) Clint Eastwood's first and hopefully only awful film. Coogan's Bluff holds a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and so I thought well this has a fair chance of being a classic, but to my disbelief as soon as the film continued to progress I hated it even more than I did when it started. Eastwood is probably the only good thing about this film, or maybe his performance and some of the classic 60's background music that fit's the film quite well, but it cannot work too well if the film it plays in, is as disgusting as this one. I'll keep this short as the positives are already out of the way, the entire supporting cast which were so forgettable do not deserve a mention and they were mostly playing stupid, crazy or laughably bad characters. The first truly morally incorrect scene start's when a female police officer is being groped in plain sight at a police station with plenty of witnesses, and during this scene the creep says "I can feel your heart", it made me sick to my stomach, this guy was not her lover he was a stranger and I don't care what era you're in, you have no right to touch another person inappropriately without their consent. But what really annoys me is that when Eastwood saves the day, by punching that jerk in the face, she starts shouting at him, telling him to apologise and I kept thinking so the women in this film are portrayed as mere objects and there happy to let someone touch there boobs without consent? This film is so wrong, if you did that in real life you would be facing a suspended hearing before a judge. The film isn't even a chase it's like a bad police drama with a final chase sequence, and there's even a nightclub scene involving junkies and loonies; now Coogan (Eastwood) thinks that for some suitable info, he should ask these drugged up mental patients, always a good idea; and while he's trying to get them to talk, one of them even pulls out a blade and Eastwood is ready, which is laughably clichéd, later on he goes with the female nutcase to find the escaped criminal, in which she leads him into an ambush and a severe beating; who would of thought a drug addict and a nutcase could be lying? Rarely am I sarcastic but here is a film that is so dumb it's required to do so. Special mention to that crazy woman getting used as an object, insulted by her so called 'boyfriend' and shouting "Jimmy" loudly three times; when she shouts Jimmy I can't deny I laughed because it's unintentionally hilarious and shows how awful she was.Every scene has some corny, forgettable one liners, it's not funny, there's even a joke from some ugly old hag who shouts some nonsense that I somehow can't remember. Coogan's Bluff is not an action film or even an entertaining one, it's a clichéd worse than usual bore-fest, with ugliness, sexism, a forgettable villain and a laughably lame final sequence. This is the only Eastwood film I actually despise.

It's hard to believe that "Coogan's Bluff" was made just three years earlier than the iconic "Dirty Harry," for it looks ancient in comparison. Eastwood is portraying a very similar character - tough, cynical old school cop trying to maintain law and order in a world that doesn't seem to want it.While "Dirty Harry" still holds up well today (2016) due to an engaging story line, tight script, and a tremendous supporting cast topped off by a mesmerizing Andy Robinson as the deranged Scorpio killer, "Coogan's Bluff" looks like a pair of bell bottom jeans we find in an old foot locker. The clothes, the sets, and the slang look like they were out of date within a couple of years after this was made, and Don Stroud is about the least intimidating adversary ever cast in an Eastwood film. He's more pathetic than pathological. Lee J. Cobb and Susan Clark do their best with the material given to them, but it's no use.Watch this only to get a glimpse of late-1960s American pop culture, much like what you'd look for in an American museum display. As for convincing crime drama, forget it.Only "Easy Rider" looks more outdated than this film.

I am a big fan of Clint Eastwood and have really enjoyed watching some of his films like the Dirty Harry series, Joe Kidd and of course Where Eagles Dare. Anyway, I was thoroughly entertained while watching Coogan's Bluff. The films starts off with a typically defiant Eastwood who as result is sent to New York City as a result. The film offers a fairly unique story that involves some good actions scenes and a very well written story. It also gives the audience a chance to see New York in the 1960's which is a great setting for this film.Overall, I would recommend anyone to watch this film as it's only an hour and a half long, it doesn't drag on at all. It's not one of the greatest by a long way, however as like film with Clint Eastwood it is certainly worth the watch.