Gran Torino

Welcome to the “D” List.  My new movie review column inspired by some co workers at Productions. My first entry is Gran Torino directed by and starring Clint Eastwood.

I will begin by saying that very quickly and quietly or not so quietly (depending on who you ask) Clint Eastwood has put together a powerhouse filmography of directorial masterpieces. Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Letters From Iwo Jima and Changeling to name a few and Gran Torino though not 100% perfect definitely belongs on this powerhouse list.

The plot of Gran Torino may seem simple judging by what you see in the trailers. "Another Dirty Harry type Clint Eastwood defends the weak against evil" type film but it's the farthest thing from that in my opinion.

Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski a grizzled old school VERY predjudiced korean war vet who just lost his wife. Right at the outset you see how unhappy and set in his ways Walt is. He carries a huge chip on his shoulder and as a result he just walks around angry at everyone. He has become disconnected with his 2 sons and grandchildren and refuses to adapt to the way things are in the world today. After the funeral he just continues on with his life, tending to his lawn and making repairs to his house and more importantly hating his next door neighbors. A race of asian's called Hmong (from a region of china/laos and other areas who fought with the US in the Korean war) Walt's racism is blatant and at times very cruel but it establishes his character as the old school old man when back in his "hey day" these opinions of minorites were the norm.

Walt refuses to acknowledge his neighbor's existence consisting of a mother, grandmother and 2 teenagers Su and her younger brother Thao until after failing to steal Walt's 72 Gran Torino as part of a gang initiation Thao is attacked by the gang in front of Walt's house which prompt's him to break out his rifle and demand that the fight stops and that everyone leaves the property. The gang reluctantly leaves and the family are grateful to Walt but instead of accepting the families gratitude he remains annoyed that he had to interact with them at all.

As a punishment for dishonoring the family Thao is sent to work for Walt doing whatever job he sees fit. A bond between Thao and Walt forms all the way to the point where after his debt is paid Walt helps Thao get a job in construction. There is a very strong moment in the film where Walt and Thao are shopping for tools in a hardware store and Thao thanks Walt for everything he has done for him and Walt pauses for a moment and shakes Thao's hand. It may seem like a simple handshake but that subtle gesture was in my opinion a major moment in Walt's transition from hatred to acceptance. In the beginning Walt would not hesitate to put a bullet in Thao's head now he's accepted him as a friend and an equal.

The gang returns to pick on Thao but Walt comes to his defense he orders them to leave Thao alone but it doesn't stop them. The retaliate on the entire family causing Walt serious pain and instant thoughts of revenge. I will not give away what happens to the family or the ending but rest assured it doesn't go the way you are led to believe it does and in my opinion it was a satisfying way to finish the film.

There are several other subplots to this film that tie the story together further and much more clearly. I just gave you the meat of the story, however, the other story lines are extremely valuable to the overall scope of the film as a whole. There are no throw away sub plots like in other films.

As I was watching this film I immediately felt that there were several parallel's to one of Clint's other films. Million Dollar Baby. Both films deal with companionship, family, loss and most importantly change. You despise Walt for the way he treat's the Hmong's and then you feel for him later on. Now some critics have said that since the asian cast are not trained actors that Eastwood's performance may outshine or take the forefront but I disagree. I felt there was an even balance because the Hmong's were portrayed as a race of people that may live in america but are not americanized to a certain degree and I saw that when watching the performances of Su and Thao.

Overall Gran Torino was an entertaining film with a lot of heart. Not Eastwood's best but definitely worth the $.

My Grade a High B+

My next review will be Frost/Nixon. My darkhorse pick for Best Picture and Best Actor - Frank Langella for his brilliant portrayal of Richard Nixon.

Until Next Episode....I'll save you a seat

"D"