Gran Torino

Clint Eastwood has been criticised in the past as not being a capable actor. Gran Torino shows that he is still not only superb behind the camera, but also in front of one too. He plays the disgruntled retired war veteran, Walt Kowalski, with a resolute stamp of authority, exhibiting a great deal of freedom in the role in (sadly) his last big-screen appearance.

Dealing with the themes of crime, gang culture, racism and family issues, Gran Torino is a meandering, yet simple, film that is a serious drama whilst remaining charming and funny in parts. Like his other recent directorial works, Eastwood portrays the plot excellently, with great character development and brings to life the the more morose elements without using very much music to assist him. In fact, this lack of music is present throughout the film, with Eastwood having faith in himself, and the relatively unknown cast, to keep the audience feel the tension or enjoyment of some of the less serious moments.

The film is primarily based amongst the Hmong community residing in the Detroit suburbs; itself presented as a multi-cultural area. However, Walt seems to be an archaic dinosaur in comparison to the other inhabitants with his vociferous and flagrant racist remarks. This initially comes as a shock but soon the viewer realises that it is merely a facade, with a great deal of humanity shown by Eastwood's character, as a result of his interaction with the similarly accomodating Hmong neighbours. In fact, an irony well-presented in the movie is that the 'foreign' neighbours are more friendly to Walt than his own family, who view him as the unbearable relative and never truly understand him more than skin-deep.

Overall, the film is a modern masterpiece, starting slowly but builds up to the tragic conclusion. It remains simple in its plot whilst having the capacity to question the state of modern urban society in the US and the issue of 'culture-clash' between young and old. Just a fantastic film! :)

- Some information in this review has been sourced from the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).

I feel this could have been a far better film if it weren't for the poor performance from Bee Vang. Being a Clint Eastwood project I really didn’t understand what he was thinking in allowing Vang to be cast in such an important role.

The story was certainly a compelling tale that had lots of laughs whilst tastefully throwing in the odd social commentary.

With Million Dollar Baby, I was impressed and enlightened by Eastwood’s musical input. This time around I didn’t appreciate his husky serenade throughout the end credits.