Clint Eastwood morally ambiguous figure

Eastwood’s persona carries a unique distinction among superstars; he represents almost exclusively morally ambiguous figures. He is a coyote/trickster figure among banal comic book heroes. No one has stretched more, or questioned the confines of the movie star construct. Imagine Ben Affleck, Gibson or Willis, or the action hero of your choice in any of these situations:

Homoerotic Lover	Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (Michael Cimino, 1974)
Terrorised Male Gothic	Play Misty for Me (Clint Eastwood, 1971)
Sacrificial Erotic Murder Victim	The Beguiled (Don Siegel, 1971)
Secret Service Agent Failure	In the Line of Fire (Wolfgang Petersen, 1993)
Sexual Obsessive Cop	Tightrope (Richard Tuggle, 1984)
Deathly, Consumptive Country Legend	Honkytonk Man (Clint Eastwood, 1984)
Orangutan Co-Star:	Every Which Way but Loose (Hal Needham, 1978) and
	Any Which Way You Can (Hal Needham, 1980)
Unredeemed Mercenary Killer	Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 1992)
Saccharine Circus Freak	Bronco Billy (Clint Eastwood, 1980)
Fey, but Psychotic Director	White Hunter, Black Heart (Clint Eastwood, 1990)
Loveless Commitment-Phobe	The Bridges of Madison County (Clint Eastwood, 1995)
Geriatric Washed-up Astronaut	Space Cowboys (Clint Eastwood, 2000)

tratto da:

It Came from the Mystic

by Carloss James Chamberlin

http://sensesofcinema.com/2004/feature-articles/mystic_river/