Every Which Way But Loose

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Every Which Way But Loose

PG

1978

1h 59m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

41%

Tomatometer

27 Reviews

56%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

A tough trucker with a cheeky pet orangutan, Philo Beddoe (Clint Eastwood) moonlights as a fighter, with his close friend Orville Boggs (Geoffrey Lewis) setting up matches for him. When Philo begins dating country singer Lynn Halsey-Taylor (Sondra Locke), and she abruptly disappears, he goes off in search of her, his simian companion and Orville in tow. On their cross-country trek, Philo and friends repeatedly clash with bikers, leading up to a violent showdown.

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Critics Consensus

The inexplicable pairing of Clint Eastwood with an orangutan is the least of Every Which Way But Loose's problems -- a slack action-comedy with a haphazardly assembled story.

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Eastwood has the best double take in the business, there are some interesting glimpses of blue-collar LA, and the downbeat ending displays a genuine moral intelligence.

Mar 26, 2019

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Debbie Prager

Washington Post

The plot remains as flat as the treacly country-western score.

Mar 26, 2019

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Ian Nathan

Empire Magazine

Clint doing roughneck humour with an orang-utan, what's not to like?

Rated: 3/5

Mar 26, 2019

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George Anderson

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Disorganized, pointless and disagreeable comedy... Clint Eastwood seems more relaxed than usual, but he is in desperate need of a good script.

Rated: C-

Jul 8, 2025

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...an exceedingly ramshackle piece of work that benefits substantially from the affable efforts of its charismatic star...

Rated: 2.5/4

Oct 23, 2021

Full Review

TV Guide Staff

TV Guide

There's no accounting for the success of this over the failure of Eastwood's infinitely superior Bronco Billy.

Rated: 2.5/5

Mar 26, 2019

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Paul T

Clint Eastwood gets out acted by an ape ! Great stuff ! This film was great it’s like the great escape it’s on every Saturday night on BBC 1 at 12.15 in the morning or on ITV before we had 24 hour news we had Any which way you lose ! A classic late night Smokey and the Bandit type Buddy film the like of which we will never see again, It’s a Rocky type road movie about a bare knuckle fighter fighting across America to get enough money to build a zoo for his ape ! I mean if you don’t like it you took it too seriously and if you love it well I can’t hold that against you as Clint Eastwood and an ape in a truck is just timeless.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/12/25

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Audience Member

This film is alright, a heck of a lot of fighting, an orangutang, and a love that doesn’t quite pan out. 3/5 stars.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/16/25

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Garand G

You can’t beat this combination. They all lended a hand to make this movie funny. You can’t argue with the box office results. I remember going to see this movie twice when it cam out. Everybody loved it. Love watching it on DVD.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

06/05/25

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Shawn R

My favorite movie of Clint's outside of his westerns.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/25/24

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CodyZamboni Z

Likable cast, but burdened by loads of barely amusing, slapstick humor, Most of it is telegraphed, Due to an obvious trainer off camera, giving signals to Clyde, Which ruins all the comic surprises, That said, Eastwood looks like he's having a lot of fun.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/25

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James H

A rare comedic performance from Clint Eastwood is a decent performance as a trucker & brawler Philo Beddoe the funny moments come from his pet Clyde the Orangutan

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/10/23

Full Review

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James Fargo

Director

Clint Eastwood

Philo Beddoe

Sondra Locke

Lynn Halsey-Taylor

Ruth Gordon

Ma

Geoffrey Lewis

Orville

Beverly D'Angelo

Echo

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Synopsis

A tough trucker with a cheeky pet orangutan, Philo Beddoe (Clint Eastwood) moonlights as a fighter, with his close friend Orville Boggs (Geoffrey Lewis) setting up matches for him. When Philo begins dating country singer Lynn Halsey-Taylor (Sondra Locke), and she abruptly disappears, he goes off in search of her, his simian companion and Orville in tow. On their cross-country trek, Philo and friends repeatedly clash with bikers, leading up to a violent showdown.

Director: James Fargo
Producer: Robert Daley
Screenwriter: Jeremy Joe Kronsberg
Production Co: Warner Bros.
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 18, 2008
Runtime: 1h 59m

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