Ça va cogner...

A charming, and endearingly goofy follow up to the successfully hearty comedy 'Every Which Way But Loose (1978)', which starred Clint Eastwood as cool-hand, bar-brawling Philo Beddoe along with his alcohol slurping orangutan companion Clyde. Slap-stick galore with the easy-going style of the original picking up the pace and having a variety of cartoon-like characters represented by a more than capably fruitful cast (some who are Eastwood regulars). They're here for a good time and it shows. Geoffrey Lewis, Sondra Locke, Ruth Gordon, William Smith, Harry Guardino, Bill McKinney and Barry Corbin give pleasingly amusing performances. However it's the returning John Quade who's a hilarious hoot as the leader of the haplessly crony bikers 'Black Widows'. Eastwood naturally comes across cool and collected in another winning performance. The drama here feels a little more spontaneous, busy and crazy with much more bare-knuckle, sweaty fist fights (which are well-executed) and a real infantile comical imprint. Streaming through is a heart-warming music score with an appealing country swing and open photography sharply frames some beautiful locations and accordingly gets amongst the action. Is it better than the first… I don't think so, but I never grow old of these fun, light-headed features.

If any animal deserved its own trailer, chauffeured limousine and personal trainer, it would be Clyde.

"Any Which Way You Can" proves once and for all the similarities of ape to man (and in some cases, the ape's superiority).

Basically, this movie is a great improvement over the stillborn humor of "Every Which Way But Loose". Clint wisely plays straight man to Clyde, who provides the funniest moments, when not befriending William Smith ("Big Bill" Smith from the old biker movies. Go look it up.), then engaging in a bare-knuckle fight with him later on.

Everyone fares better in this movie, in fact. Sondra Locke is far more graceful, Geoffrey Lewis gets more laughs, even Ruth Gordon is seen as the next Bo Derek (bless her heart).

And if the Black Widows aren't more menacing this time around, well... that's kind of hard to do when you're wearing fake wigs and have penciled-in facial hair.

I've seen this movie so many times myself, that I have nearly the entire screenplay committed to memory. What more indelible impression could a filmmaker want to make than that?

It may not be saying much, but Any Which Way You Can is much better than Every Which Way But Loose.

The biker gang are funnier this time around, Clyde gets far more screen time (which is a good thing), and the big fight near the end is a fairly brutal cracker.

A no-brainer, certainly, but who can resist seeing Barry Corbin driving his plane along the roads, in order to get to the fight?

First off, do not see this movie unless you have already seen "Every Which Way but Loose", as this film is a sequel to that.

Now, the first film was known to have a pretty shallow story. This one has the same problem - in fact, the story seems even weaker than the first. The plot doesn't go anywhere; it sits there and watches as the film's comedy takes the wheel.

The film is definitely intended to bring up laughter, but I'm not sure if it's sole purpose of production was to be a comedy. The laughs are good, but too rare to make the movie's lack of a story acceptable. The humor is very similar to that of the first film, only, like this film's story, never jumps to the point of surpassing anything we've already seen.

However, despite these flaws, the film was overall enjoyable. There's not much you'd miss if you skip this one, but if you enjoyed "Every Which Way but Loose", you're probably going to like "Any Which Way You Can" - just probably not as much as you enjoyed the first. Like the first film, the ape "Clyde" is the source of all true amusement, with "Ma" charging up a scene or two of good laughter in this one. Clint Eastwood's performance may feel a bit weaker or equal to his in "Every Which Way but Loose", but it definitely adds to the experience.

Overall, a good film to see if you really enjoyed the first. The two films are very similar, so much so that if you stumbled upon one on television, it may take you awhile to figure out which one you're watching. Many of the scenes take place in the same places: "Clint's house, the bar, etc.", and there are only a few slight additions to the cast. Really nothing too "new" in this film, but a surely entertaining viewing if you enjoyed "Every Which Way but Loose".

I give the film a 6/10. I gave "Every Which Way but Loose" a 7/10, and this one lost a point as although it was a bit funnier than the first, the story wasn't as thought-out as the firsts at all, and I seemed to loose my interest a bit more easily on this one. Nonetheless, incredibly similar to the first film in all sorts of ways, so if the first one left you wanting more, definitely check this one out!

If you have seen the first one (Every Which Way...) you know exactly what you are going to get here. The 2 movies are not so much plot driven but character driven...that is...you enjoy watching their interactions with each other and their situations...what the situations are or the plot doesn't really matter.

Its a relaxed movie with some good laughs and some gentle user friendly action.

Any Clint Eastwood fan will enjoy :)