Gran Torino (R-2008)

Clint Eastwood has done something really interesting late in his career. In "Unforgiven", he took his classic gunslinger role and turned it on its ear. Here in "Gran Torino", he pretty much does the same thing with the "Dirty Harry"-style character. It could easily be argued that Walt Kowalski represents that character later in life, albeit a little more openly racist than Harry. Kowalski (Eastwood) is a retired man who just lost his wife and has watched his neighborhood change over into one of Asian immigrants. Kowalski has no problem expressing his displeasure with his neighbors while he proudly flies his American flag and tries to keep his little piece of the pie just the way he wants it. He finds himself thrust into the middle of their culture and conflict when Thao (Bee Vang) is coerced by the Asian gang to attempt to steal Kowalski's prized Gran Torino. Kowalski thwarts the attempt and saves Thao from the gang's wrath. When Thao's family insist he pay back Kowalski by working for him for a week, Kowalski's shell starts to soften and the two develop a lasting friendship. In fact, during this stage of the film, it begins to resemble "The Karate Kid" in many ways. Of course, street gangs are not easily discouraged and the tension escalates throughout the film, leading to a dramatic finale. Eastwood is at the top of his game as both director and actor in this effort. As the movie progresses, you can really feel his "racist" veneer doesn't really reflect how he treats people. I would argue that much of his racist rhetoric is just frustration with what he sees coupled with the awful language he likely grew up on. Somehow, Eastwood gets you to root for, understand and actually care about this "racist" man, even more than you care about some of the other people in his life. His relationship with his family is horrible and you begin to see that it is more their fault than his. While his sons are successful men, he is not proud of them. This movie worked on so many levels: a straight-forward entertaining story, a social commentary, a character study: it's all there. A final comment on whether or not this was snubbed by the Oscars: I loved this movie, I love Eastwood and thought he was great both in front of and behind the camera here, BUT I think the movie does fall just short of Oscar material. I know many will disagree.

Grade: A

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