rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 2008
Directed by Clint Eastwood; produced by Clint Eastwood, Bill Gerber, Robert Lorenz; screenplay by Nick Schenk
Starring Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, Brian Haley, Geraldine Hughes, John Carroll Lynch
'Gran Torino' may not be Clint Eastwood's best work, but as he did earlier this year with 'Changeling', he shows he makes films well above average. In fact, this film is an improvement over 'Changeling', a film I admired more for its production values than its story. Here a familiar story is told, but Eastwood the star and Eastwood the director make it more than that. This film could have gone over the top many times, in fact, with another actor in the lead it could be a legitimate criticism, but 'Gran Torino' pulls it off.
Eastwood is Walt Kowalski, a Korean War veteran, who literally groans long and hard when he witnesses unpleasant things. There is a lot of that lately. His wife recently died and now his children and grandchildren annoy him, as does his priest (Christopher Carley) who wants Waltto go to confession, his wife dying wish. Even more annoying is his neighborhood becoming more and more ethnically diverse. When the teenage son of the Hmong familiy living next door tries to steal his 1972 Gran Torino - the one thing he seems to love - for a gang initiation Walt and his shot gun solve the problem.
The young teenager is Thao (Bee Vang), now a target of the gang since he didn't pass his initiation. He has a sister named Sue (Ahney Her), a high spirited girl Walt is able to like. By his family Thao is ordered to work for Walt, his penalty for trying to steal the car, and it is not hard to guess the friendship emerging from this. When it comes to the story, there are little surprises. Still, Eastwood is able to pull you in and he makes sure you will care about any of the important characters.
The comedy comes from Eastwood. His groans would be laughable in a bad way with most other actors. Here they make you laugh in a positive way. The same thing happens with his ethnic slurs. There are a lot of those. Eastwood's part is a little like the role he played in 'Million Dollar Baby' - grumpy old man does not want to be nice to other people - but instead of Morgan Freeman his only friend here seems to be the Italian barber Martin (John Carroll Lynch). Their exchanges, especially one that also involves Thao, belong to the best in this film.
'Gran Torino' has not the greatest story, even though little details improve it tremendously. That said, special attention needs to go to the ending, which delivers big time. Many films like this one would choose the easy way out, the one Hollywood does best. Not Eastwood - or Nick Schenk who wrote the screenplay. This, a familiar but engaging story and terrific performances (not just from Eastwood, but from Bee Vang and especially Ahney Her too) make 'Gran Torino' one of the better films of 2008.