Play Misty For Me:

Clint Eastwood in One of His Worst Acting Movies

By Lynn A. Granata

Okay, why would a guy like David Garvey want to shoo a female admirer away in the first place? Does he really find her to be that repulsive? Not bad for a guy who has no interest but yet accepts the expensive groceries that she just had the generosity to bring to his empty refrigerator.

My opinion of his character in Play Misty for Me is that Eastwood acts as nothing more than a mindless brute. He ought to be ashamed of himself.  Jessica Walters who plays the admirer is stunning in her acting ability if not outstanding. I feel sorry for her character, Evelyn. Likewise as the movie's arch villain, she tends to become more and more vilified as the film progresses.

But, if you were being treated like her, wouldn't you as well? She was treated worst than a garbage dumpster. "Oh, why did you just come in here traipsing around?" "What if this was a business meeting being conducted?" Or more hurtfully asking her "what if I had had some female company here?" "Now think how that would look, with you coming in here with the grocery bags?"

If Evelyn was mentally unstable as they have portrayed her to be in this film, why would she continue to take his insults and lack of interest as a clue to stay away from him in the first place? Apparently as she draws closer to David Garvey the more he recoils. Her feelings are literally being trampled on with each act of kindness she conjures up toward him. He is a mean and arrogant phony macho fool in this film and makes nothing more than a jerk out of himself. 

Now, I am not saying that he should make believe that she doesn't bother him at all, and become romantically involved with her just so she wouldn't feel bad.  What I am saying is that he should have been less crude and dysfunctional toward her. Evelyn is a borderline personality which means that she can't stand being alone, and feels insecure whenever she is alone. Garvey shouldn't have given Evelyn the come on if he was already involved with another woman in a relationship. So, who's fault was it? His, his and his fault.