Dirty Harry (1972) review

Misanthropic Bay Area police inspector Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is assigned a new partner, Chico Gonzalez (Reni Santoni), and given the undesirable task of apprehending a mass murdering sniper (inspired by the real-life Zodiac Killer) that goes by the alias "Scorpio" (Andy Robinson) who's been picking off victims from the rooftops ... yet once he does nab him, the authorities have to free "Scorpio" because of Harry's "abuse of power."  I didn't care for this when I originally saw it as a teenager, and while some of my issues with it still remain - it's too distant and cruel (Callahan punches out a man attempting suicide) and there's not much of a backstory for its "hero" or villain - but on this second viewing (three decades later) I appreciate Siegel's icy approach, the rickety camerawork and Eastwood's magnetism a lot more: Harry has no life outside of his job and finds himself at war with not only a madman but his department's "rules" and the "law" in general.  Upon its initial release in the early seventies, several individuals commented on its "neo-Fascist leanings" - even Robert Mitchum, who was a Republican, supposedly turned the role down (which is odd since his brother John plays DiGiorgio) - and I wish those folks lived long enough to see how deranged the Confederacy has become in 2024.  Callahan is most certainly not a saint, but he isn't Derek Chauvin either.