Gran Torino (2009)

O Masterpiece
X Excellent
O Good
O OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid

Review by Jason Pyles / January 9, 2009

If only most movies could be like “Gran Torino.” Truly excellent films (like this one) never have to strain; they make great filmmaking seem so easy, so effortless. And it’s precisely films like “Gran Torino” that make us critics seem so jaded and cynical when we’re faced with the much lesser movies that parade through theaters, week after week, like “Bride Wars” or “The Unborn” (which both also opened today).

For Clint Eastwood fans, “Gran Torino” fulfills almost everything you’d want in an Eastwood film. But his latest character, Walt Kowalski, isn’t invincible or unbeatable. He acts appropriately aged, revealing his elderly frailties. More importantly, he’s a compassionate soul beneath that leathery exterior, and we come to be awed by his deep goodness. Indeed, Walt is similar to Eastwood’s Frankie Dunn character in “Million Dollar Baby” (2004).

“Gran Torino” is set in present-day Michigan, in the city of Highland Park (basically Detroit), where the neighborhood is ethnically diverse and becoming more and more prone to gang activity. But decorated Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) still sits on his porch drinking beer, with his dog, Daisy, American flag and his baby — a mint-condition 1972 Gran Torino. Walt is newly widowed, old-fashioned, unabashedly racist and outspokenly unhappy about all the foreigners overtaking his neighborhood.

The word “crotchety” isn’t quite strong enough to describe Kowalski, but you get the picture. He’s displeased with his decadent family, particularly his sons and spoiled grandchildren; and to make matters worse, Walt’s wife sicced (yes, that’s the correct spelling) the local priest on him before she died.

I’ve discussed character development at length because that’s the fuel that drives “Gran Torino” … and let me tell ya, it purrs like a kitten.

Walt has new next-door neighbors, a Hmong family that incurs the old man’s disdain. But it is his developing relationship with this family, particularly two smart but vulnerable teenagers — Sue (Ahney Her) and Thao (Bee Vang) — that supplies the story. In short, Walt warms up to the kids and their enemies become his enemies.

Though it’s ultimately a drama, “Gran Torino” provides laughs nearly all the way through it. Nevertheless, I don’t think they’re the “right kind” of laughs: Sure, there’s an underlying moral that racism is wrong, but in the process of presenting its message, “Gran Torino” spews numerous racial slurs before presenting its subtle point, much like “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry” (2007) ultimately suggests that it’s wrong to ridicule homosexual people while ruthlessly ridiculing homosexual people.

“Gran Torino” is an excellent film — exquisite cinema — and I recommend seeing it the theater tomorrow, unless you’re free today.

Directed by Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood / Bee Vang / Ahney Her
Drama 116 min.
MPAA: R (for language throughout, and some violence)

U.S. Release Date: January 9, 2009
Copyright 2008: 330