Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
Philo takes part in a bare knuckle fight – as he does – to make more money than he can earn from his car repair business. He decides to retire, but when the Mafia come along and arrange another fight, he's pushed into it. A motorcycle gang and an orangutan called Clyde all add to the 'fun'.
Any Which Way You Can is a sequel to Every Which Way But Loose, doubling down on the same formula of bare-knuckle brawling, country music, and Clyde the orangutan. The plot is thin and episodic, with the Mafia subplot and biker gang antics feeling perfunctory. Acting is amiable but lightweight — Eastwood coasts on charm rather than craft, and the supporting cast plays broad comedy. Cinematography is workmanlike at best, functional without distinction. The ending resolves predictably with little dramatic tension. Novelty earns a modest 3 because the combination of Eastwood's action-hero persona, slapstick comedy, country music, and an orangutan sidekick remains a genuinely peculiar cultural artifact that doesn't fit neatly into any single genre box — it's a strange enough proposition to stand out, even if the execution is lazy.