I’m not too sure about “Bronco Billy” as it’s an intriguing effort by filmmaker Clint Eastwood (“Sudden Impact”, “Absolute Power”), who works on both sides of the camera for this, but I’m on the fence about what it accomplishes and which audience it is aimed at.

Like “Every Which Way But Loose”, I’m not sure if it’s really meant to be a family movie or a guys’ movies as in “Bronco Billy” we meet the sharpshooting modern cowboy Bronco Billy (Eastwood) who struggles to keep his wild west show running after a series of unfortunate events including wounded assistants and a tent burnt to a cinder.

Clint Eastwood gives a performance that seems charming enough to satisfy but I’m not sure how good it really is. I really love the performance by Sondra Locke (“The Outlaw Josey Wales”) as the already rich heiress named Antoinette Lily that is forced to join Billy and the show but finds as she continues performing that she is a real cowgirl at heart. By far the worst performance by any of the main stars is by Geoffrey Lewis (“Kelly’s Heroes”). I wasn’t too fond of most of the performances including the one by Scatman Crothers (“The Shootist”) as Doc Lynch.

“Bronco Billy” is a strange movie as I’m not sure what exactly it aspires to be and I’m not entirely convinced on what it actually does achieve. If you’re a fan of Eastwood, I’m not sure what you’ll make of this but perhaps you should give a quick go if you spot it on television at some point. I laughed during parts of the movie, I felt sympathetic during parts of the movie and I was puzzled by bits of the movie. Maybe children will enjoy this picture, maybe adults will because all I can say is that I’m not sure.