‘Gran Torino’ Review

The movie opens with Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) at his wife’s funeral. He is giving a mean stare to the attendees of the Mass and criticizing them all with grunts and dirty looks. Back at his house later on we realize that Walt is a very angry, bitter, racist Korean War Veteran. He is disgusted by his neighborhood being taken over by Asians including his next door neighbors. He spends his days sitting on his front porch with his old dog getting drunk and looking mean. One night his precious Ford Gran Torino is almost stolen and it starts the path of life change. He is sick of the Asian gang that has been coming around and one night hears a scuffle next door. He goes out to break it up and unknowingly saves the young boy that lives there when in reality he was just trying to get some “swamp rats” off his lawn. Due to his actions, he starts an unexpected relationship with the Asian family next door when they start bringing him gifts. The movie is… odd. I guess it’s supposed to have a lot of comedic elements but I was expecting more of a dramatic piece. Clint Eastwood also directs the film and puts it together nicely but I think he just wasn’t sure what genre he should fully commit to. Or maybe that’s more the fault of the writer.

I found myself laughing a lot at how ignorant Eastwood’s character was towards other people. He was mean and didn’t care. He even told off a priest. It was pretty damn funny. But then they try to mix in the serious moments. Eastwood constantly coughs up blood so he is obviously hiding a sickness and he has some deep troubles that have turned him away from religion and family. His sons seem like they can’t even stand him. And I can see why, the man is an asshole, pure and simple. Somehow he befriends the little outcast Asian boy from next door and starts getting very involved in their family. Its just something that wouldn’t happen if this guy truly was as racist and mean as they made him out to be. As for the acting, Clint is great as his usual raspy voiced badass self. The Asian family is terrible and they were annoying me with how bad their acting was.

I guess the point of the movie is all about how Walt’s life changes. It was just hard to believe that the man would just change his entire life’s point of view in such a short time, but he does. He tries to keep the Asian boy out of trouble. He teaches him to be a man and get a job. He tries to keep the local gang away but it only causes more trouble. Walt becomes the friendly neighborhood old man. Ok, maybe not friendly but no longer scary to the people around him. Its an unlikely transition. The key scene to the movie that probably could have caused this transition is when Walt speaks with a priest about life and death. The priest tells Walt that it seems like he knows much more about death than life. You can tell in Walt’s face that he realizes this is true. I suppose this is what causes the change in his life as he starts to lighten up a bit.

To wrap this all up I guess I was expecting more out of Gran Torino but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie. Just a bit too jumbled for me. It switches from a comedy about a lonely old man and an unlikely friend bonding to a drama about gangs continuously torturing an Asian family in this old man’s neighborhood. In the end we get a full on drama that pulls at the heart strings but it was too little too late to make this a MADE movie. But it’s definitely recommended because Clint still does some great filmmaking.

IMDB – 8.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes – 79%
Movie Wiseguys – 7/10