Nerd Mentality

REVIEW: Gran Torino

Posted February 9th 2009 by Jacob Barnes.

I have to hand it to Mr. Eastwood. When most people at 78 are stuck in retirement homes, or worse, he's out there getting involved with as much as he can. Directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino tells the story of a retired autoworker and Korean war veteran angry with everything he sees in his world and ultimately trying to bring peace to his old Detroit neighborhood.

The film starts in a church with Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) standing beside his deceased wife's casket. Here we see his two sons and daughter-in-law, all of whom he is obviously disconnected with. His family cares for him, or at least tries to, but these are two types of people that just don't mix. As people fill in the pews we see one grandson wearing a Lions jersey. Ok, that's inapropriate even when not in church. Another granddaughter walks in with a skimpy shirt barely covering her belly button; Walt simply stands there shaking his head, letting out a low growl from his clenched teeth.

Now you'll notice much of this movie seems to revolve around Walt. It's true Clint Eastwood's acting outshines much of the other supporting characters, at times taking away from what little screentime they have. He's not a particularly interesting character by himself actually. He enjoys nothing more than lounging with his dog, Daisy, a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon and of course the '72 Gran Torino in his garage. Where most of the dialogue and slow plot development come in is through his interactions with other people.

After the funeral the focus shifts over to his neighbors, a Hmong American family. They seem to be having a large gathering to celebrate the birth of a daughter. Out of the dozens of people crammed into the house, the only two important ones are an indecisive kid name Thao (pronounced tao) and his older sister Sue.

Thao is a good smart kid, a rarity for men in the family. He's a little awkward and unsure if he wants to go to college or hang out with people he shouldn't. In fact it's almost a little too cliché how outcast his character acts, but one should note that this is his first acting experience in Gran Torino. Things start getting heated through interactions with Thao and his older cousin, someone who his overprotective sister doesn't want around.

In one scene in particular we see Thao tending to the garden as his family sits on the porch. When his older cousin and gang show up in their tricked-out Honda, they try to persuade Thao to come with them until his family storms in and starts fighting over him. As Thao is being dragged away onto his neighbor's meticulously well-cut green yard we start to hear the sound of drums playing. The fighting breaks up and the camera pans up from a pair of dark shoes and clothes to Walt's cold face and M1 Garand steadily aimed at their party as he delivers one of the more popular lines from the trailer. Now the gang doesn't show much fear as guns are nothing new to them, and old men are not particularly intimidating at first glance. But we get to see how serious Walt is as he calmly says, "We used to stack fucks like you five feet high and use you as sandbags," before the gang squeezes back into their little car.

Walt's choice of vocabulary brings me to another thing I should point out. Clint Eastwood's character is not exactly racist, but a bit old fashioned when telling people what he thinks about them. The names he and a few other people use to describe one another include honky, gook, spook, chink, zipperhead, fish head, pollack and a few other racial slurs. There are two classic scenes where Walt and his barber, played by John Carroll Lynch, go at it calling each other an "Italian prick" or "Jew" in a casual conversation. At one point you'd think they actually hate each other, but that's "just how men talk" as Walt later explains to Thao. And of course with Koreans you can expect a few dog jokes. What amazes me is that at times it's hard not to laugh at all of these jokes that get thrown at you. And even though this delivers laughs not found in most dirty comedies, it still retains a serious tone that is almost touching at times.

As I mentioned before, the true tone as well as the plot and character development come from Walt getting to know his neighbors. We see Walt go from a blind dislike toward these people that derives from his past, to an even deeper hate for Thao after a failed attempt at stealing the prized Gran Torino. Later on through smaller acts we eventually see that relationship move in the opposite direction until Walt feels like family to these people and has no problem going over for family gatherings. I think a lot of people should enjoy seeing these classic dynamic characters. Thao also changes slightly from his social dilemmas and opens up throughout the film.

We know that Clint Eastwood gives another excellent performance in this movie. The rest of the cast does okay considering the amount of lesser known people cast. It's good for the audience to note that almost all of the Asian actors came from real Hmong communities (mostly in the Detroit area) with little or no acting experience. For this reason some people may notice the characters acting a little stiff and commonplace for their ethnic stereotypes on the more serious dialogue, but during the casual scenes I think this was needed to make things feel natural. However, most of the remaining non-Asian do show some acting talent even if from small television roles. It's easy to forget about these characters at times since most have only a few scenes and then you are thrown back into Walt's easygoing life or the Asian presence at his neighbor's house. Also look out for a cameo by Scott Eastwood (Clint's son) wearing a wife beater as he runs in to trouble with a local gang.

Closing comments

Gran Torino certainly ranks up there with some of the best films of the year even if it gets lost in a sea of other Oscar-worthy contenders. Provided you're at the appropriate age level, I think this movie has something everyone can enjoy regardless of his or her genre preference. The only minor problems with the movie are some of the cliché character examples as well as acting nuances with the younger actors. And Clint Eastwood proves he still has a wide range of talents except for his singing which needs some work. Wait until the ending credits and you'll see what I mean.

Tags: Gran Torino, Movie

Posted in: Reviews, Entertainment

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