Blog Review: "Gran Torino"

Director: Clint Eastwood

Screenplay: Nick Schenk

Producer: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, Ahney Her

Not only does “Gran Torino” star Clint Eastwood, it also is directed and produced by him. Unfortunately, it would seem Eastwood was too busy with his duties to put more time toward casting. While calling the supporting cast’s performance subpar would be a euphemism, Eastwood’s brilliant delivery and the heart of the film save it and make it an enjoyable one.

Eastwood plays Walt Kawalski, the old man we all know and find it so easy to hate: a lone widower, bitter toward his offspring and neighbors, and a war veteran. But being that this is a Hollywood film, Walt finds a second breath of life in an unlikely character. In this case, that unlikely character is his Hmong neighbor’s son, a troubled teenage boy named Thao (Bee Vang) that he catches trying to boost his classic Gran Torino car. To make up for his crime the boy’s mother makes him work for Walt for two weeks. In that time he and Walt become friends as Walt guides Thao away from his gangster cousins toward a meaningful life. Through Thao and his sister Sue (Ahney Her), Walt finds new purpose in his life, but at a cost as the neighborhood gang refuses to take no for an answer.

Though the story is simple and fairly familiar, the human dynamics exhibited in the film that we experience on a day-to-day basis can’t be ignored.But for those not yet exposed to an Eastwood film, they are consistent in that they are not for those looking to escape the realities of life and language. Eastwood’s equal opportunist approach to politically incorrect remarks are also hard to ignore, but even harder not to laugh at.

First we are introduced to the relationship between Walt and Father Janovich (Christopher Carley) after Walt's wife's funeral. Father Janovich represents the young, ignorant, and inexperienced view of the world, while Walt has lived a callous and disenfranchised experience of the world. Then there’s the relationship he has with his children: to him they’re nothing more than soft, yuppie, garbage; however, the real issue, as he later recognizes, is that he never knew how to raise or talk to his children. As far as his Asian-origin Hmong neighbors go, he was a bit biased in his opinion of them considering he fought in the Korean War. But after being weakened in his opinion by their kindness his is coerced into attending their family gathering by Sue.

It’s while Walt is sitting at a table of stern-faced, hard-working, content older Hmong women that he comes to a bitter-sweet realization that simultaneously summarizes the tone and message of the film: “God dammit, I have more in common with these gooks than my own family.” For such hilarious honesty I give "Gran Torino" an 8/10 rating.