South Impact (1983)

Directed by: Clint Eastwood | 117 minutes | action, drama, thriller, crime | Actors: Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, Bradford Dillman, Paul Drake, Audrie J. Neenan, Jack Thibeau, Michael Currie, Albert Popwell, Mark Keyloun, Kevyn Major Howard, Bette Ford, Nancy Parsons, Joe Bellan, Wendell Wellman, Mara Corday, Russ McCubbin, Robert Sutton, Nancy Fish, Carmen Argenziano, Lisa Britt, Bill Reddick, Lois De Banzie, Matthew Child, Mike Johnson, Nick Dimitri, Michael Maurer, Pat DuVall, Christian Philips, Steven Kravitz, Dennis Royston, Melvin Thompson, Jophery C. Brown, William Upton, Lloyd Nelson, Christopher Pray, James McEachin, Maria Lynch, Ken Lee, Morgan Upton, John X. Heart, David Gonzales, Albert Martinez, David Rivers, Robert Rivers, Harry Demopoulos MD, Lisa London, Tom Spratley, Eileen Wiggins, John Novak

It’s common knowledge that ‘Dirty’ Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is not a big believer in a soft approach: social work and probation are a thorn in his side. Eastwood directs the fourth film in the ‘Dirty Harry’ series and shows off Callahan’s inflexible character. As a viewer you want to see a tough cop who will do anything to fight crime and Eastwood is that man. This one-dimensional view of policing gives rise to the myth that one man can reverse a crime wave in a city like San Francisco, as Charles Bronson previously did in ‘Death Wish’. Callahan was never a friend of his superiors, and even in ‘Impact’, dealing with his immediate superior is far from smooth. Harry’s boss calls him ‘a dinosaur whose working methods are outdated’, to which Harry dryly indicates that his boss is a true legend in the police force in his dreams. No, Callahan doesn’t need any clues and prefers to pick up his Magnum .44 and fix it himself. This method has brought him much success, which he will need in the search for a murderer who kills his victims one by one with pistol shots in the forehead and genitals.

Sondra Locke, once Eastwood’s girlfriend, is Callahan’s co-star. She is not a great actress, but she plays her part as twisted artist, Jennifer Spencer, with gusto. When Harry is forced to continue his investigations in tiny San Paulo, he encounters Pat Hingle in a compelling role as Chief Jannings. However, the entire cast is in the shadow of the man who single-handedly takes on the villains. The first hour of ‘Impact’ is actually a series of gripping scenes, in which Eastwood completely meets the Dirty Harry we know so well. The second part is more about solving the murder case. He makes it difficult for his superiors, leaves a trail of destruction behind him, but does get results. Harry walks into the building of a major criminal to confront him, in front of his family, with the violent death of a hooker. The old top criminal spontaneously has a heart attack. In a brown bar in San Paulo, Callahan drinks a beer and first gets into trouble with a woman with a terribly big mouth and then with the rest of the place. Where Harry goes, something happens.

All in all ‘Sudden Impact’ is a worthy ‘Dirty Harry’ film and is not inferior to the various sequels of the superior first part. Eastwood shows that he can direct well; an art he copied from Sergio Leone and Don Siegel with whom he had previously worked. Quite a few panoramic shots of the imposing coast of San Francisco, filmed from the air: beautiful! Couple this with an exciting story and many one liners from Dirty Harry’s vocabulary and you have a fun movie.