Honkytonk Man (1982) review

During the Great Depression, singer-songwriter Red Stovall (Eastwood) has consumption and his days on Earth are numbered, but before he succumbs to the disease he wants to perform at the Grand Ole Opry, so he takes his nephew Whit (Kyle Eastwood, Clint's real-life kid) and Whit's grandpa (John McIntire) along for the ride ... and the three of them get into several misadventures on the way to Nashville.  For the actor-producer-director, this allowed him to not only make a father-son movie but also to indulge in his love of music, except it wasn't really that well-received by critics or audiences at the time because - and I'll agree with them in part - that the setup is flimsy and it's rather leisurely presented considering these aren't the most complex characters.  Those issues aside, there are a good number of charming sequences, like Red paying for Whit to have his first sexual experience at a brothel, and later on when the boys meet (and become stuck with) boisterous Marlene Mooney (Alexa Kenin), who sneaks into their vehicle and has dreams of becoming a musical superstar.  Curiously enough, adult Kyle became a jazz bassist, which made Pops very happy - with the majority of families, the complete opposite reaction would have been expected.