[psmith2.0]

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley and Bee Vang
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Rated: R (language and some violence)
Trailer(s): Click here!

What an interesting little movie. Rumored to be Eastwood's final acting role, he goes out on a nice note. I've always liked the movies he directs. Never flashy or "cool", but almost always solid and often with a somber tone that makes them seem real and not always so "movie-like" and fanciful.

Most folks know the plot by now. Eastwood plays an aging, retired auto worker (Ford) and Korean War vet living in the (I assume) Detroit suburbs, in a neighborhood that has changed and he's pretty much the only "old white guy" left. There is an Asian and Hispanic gang presence in the immediate area, as well as general thuggery and the look of a part of town that has seen better times.

The movie opens at his wife's funeral, and you learn right away that Eastwood's Walt Kowalski likes nobody, and vice versa. Gruff, bigoted and not much for talking, he's driven a wedge between himself and his own family (his sons comment on what a hard-ass he is, and make a joke about which one wants to "take him in" now that his wife (their mom) has died.

A Hmong(?) family now lives next door to Kowalski's immaculate house, and he despises everything about them, including their lack of yard/landscaping maintenance. The first 15-20 minutes, with various scenes, simply establishes Eastwood's character as an impossible, unlikable hard-ass. It succeeds, but with more humor and "did he really just say that?" moments than the trailers would have you believe. Think "Archie Bunker turned up to 11".

Anyway, a gang of thugs - one of which is the older cousin of the boy, Thou, who lives next door to Walt - keeps coming around, trying to recruit the younger guy and generally making trouble (you get a sense of the basic plot from the trailers). The gang puts Thou up to an "initiation" which involves stealing Walt's prized 1972 Ford Gran Torino (which you learn, later on, that Walt installed the steering column himself during his years at the Ford plant).

Having shamed his family by his actions, he is made to "pay off his offense" by doing work for Kowalski for a week (again, you see this laid out in most of the trailers). Over the course of the next 30-45 minutes (a week in film time), you see Kowalski lightening up, becoming friendly with Thou, his family and his older sister Sue. Some great scenes during this part, where you see his hard, hateful heart softening and actually becoming close to others. You also see attempts by his widow's priest to get Walt to confession (and Walt's humorous rebuffs), as well as a few more scenes between Kowalski and his son's family.

The gang is still a presence, and things escalate to a final confrontation once Kowalski realizes Thou and his family will never "have peace" as long as the gang is around. Things build to an unexpected (for a Clint Eastwood/bad-ass movie) conclusion, but one that is much more realistic than the Dirty Harry scenario you might be hoping for. If you pay attention throughout the movie, to the small things, you'll probably put it all together well before the final moments (I did).

A very enjoyable movie for me. It was both funny and sweet, and I genuinely teared up a couple of times. It was very small and tight, and quiet. No big gestures, or any "big moments" necessarily. Just a well-made, satisfying and fun-to-watch movie. It veers from drama to humor to a bit of edge/danger in equal amounts, like a good movie should (like real life tends to do). I think it's definitely something most people should check out, especially if they've enjoyed Eastwood's other recent efforts like "Unforgiven", "Mystic River" and "Million Dollar Baby". If you like those, you should like this too. It's a good story.

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The nitty-gritty (spoiler summary):

Kowalsi, apparently dying from some sort of illness (he coughs up blood a few times throughout the movie, and apparently gets bad enough news from his doctor visit that he's compelled to reach out to his son for a friendly phone call), realizes Thou and his family will forever be threatened by this gang. He decides to confront them, but not in the way you might expect. He goes to their house, makes a bit of a ruckus to where all the surrounding neighbors come out to see what's going on. He goads the gang, via tough talk and a move for his gun (which turned out to only be his cigarette lighter) into shooting and killing him. With the people all around, at least this time "there were witnesses" (as you hear a cop say at the scene, and you learn that the entire gang is going to jail for a "long time"). Kowalski, likely dying and alone and wanting his new friends to have a safe life, "sacrifices" himself to make that happen. At the reading of the will after his funeral, you learn that Walt leaves Thou his beloved '72 Gran Torino, and the movie ends as Thou drives the car along the lakefront, with Eastwood singing(!) a poignant, piano-accompanied ballad on the soundtrack. I defy you to not suddenly get "something in your eye" at this point...

[scratt]

Thanks for the review.

I have yet to see Changeling too, but every movie Clint has ever made, acted in or directed, I love.

Daniel Craig is getting about a bit. I'd love to see his JB contract.
And it's funny that Dame Judi Dench tagged along too.

[tomoe]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 Starring: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko and Judi Dench

pscates, you sure these three were in Gran Torino?

[psmith2.0]

Ha...how did I miss that?

I use a TextEdit template to keep the format of all these the same (same heading, styling, tags, etc.). I goofed up on the updating (obviously)...I know how I did it too (I was getting the names of the actors at IMDB, and put them, accidentally, in the director field and got careless).

All fixed now, the "starring" and "directed by" fields...

[AWR]

Sounds like it's worth a look. Thanks.

(Gran Torino is just a great movie name, me thinks.)

[Moogs]

Yah it got a very good review from a family member also, so I'm thinking yet again Hollywood has shot itself in the foot by making this look like "Dirty Harry Returns" in some of the ads. I don't know WTF is wrong with these people that they can't have a commercial that shows the real character of the movie... but sounds like a winner at any rate. You don't get 9's on the Flik-o-meter for being a crappy movie! Plus "Archie Bunker Turned up to 11" sold me. This I have to see.

[Ryan]

I saw it opening weekend. Over Christmas I saw all the big releases and Gran Torino trumps them all.

[artesc]

While it is a very good movie on the whole, there is a bit lacking (I think) in the chemistry between Eastwood and the novice Vietnamese actors and it definitely isn't because of Eastwood's performance. There is something about the other actors which doesn't quite flow right, there is a bit of disconnect between what they say and what is happening and how they act. I think some of it has to do with the language barrier. I'm not sure if they are native English speakers, but they do not appear to be so from the movie and their performances are taken down a notch because of it. However, again, a very good movie that I would see again.

[Swox]

Isn't that a video game?

[bassplayinMacFiend]

I used to own a beautiful red '72 Gran Torino. I wonder if Clint put the steering column in my car?

Man I loved this car. The hood was long enough so that I could lay straight on the hood and my feet would come right to the very edge, and I'm 6 feet tall.