Brew Views: Sudden Impact

Magnum farce.

By AARON MESH

Acolytes in the Church of Eastwood will tell you that Sudden Impact is not just the Dirty Harry movie that coined "Go ahead, make my day" for Reagan: No, it's also the one Clint directed, and therefore has greater moral shading and ambiguity toward violence. We skeptics will note it also has a farting bulldog, villains who pop up randomly to serve as a shooting gallery, and Harry Callahan commandeering a nursing-home van to chase a bank robber. It's '80s excess turned surrealist, almost a proto-Blue Velvet in its belief that under the boardwalk of American life, gangs of crazed, lesbian-led rapists wait to strike.

  1. Showing at: Beer and Movie at Laurelhurst.
  2. Best paired with: Lucky Lab Super Dog IPA.
  3. Also showing: The Iron Lady (Academy, Laurelhurst).

WWeek 2015

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