"Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have fucked with? ...That's me." Gang bangers beware: Walt Kowalski is pissed off, has a violent past in the Korean War, and prejudiced enough to make an ACLU member's skin crawl. In his latest directorial offering, Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood plays a surly old curmudgeon boiling with bitter resentment for foreigners, religion, and certainly anything that could be considered "new-school". If he wants you off of his goddamn lawn, he's going to tell you from the other end of his M-1 rifle.
After the death of his wife, Walt is left to live a lonely life with his dog Daisy and a never-ending supply of Pabst Blue Ribbon. His hardened, stubborn persona leads him to suffer an emotional disconnect from his two sons, and his predominantly Hmong neighborhood only seem to inspire unrelenting racial epithets. Apart from sharing racist jokes at the bar with his old cronies, Walt can always be found mulling around his front porch, muttering angrily to himself about the miserable state of things.
It is to Clint Eastwood's credit that this exaggeratedly cranky old man does not come off as a parody of himself. Harkening back to his days as the tough as nails no-bullshit cop "Dirty" Harry Callahan, Clint is the pinnacle of a grizzled badass. The idea of a 78 year old man brutalizing a young gang member sounds comical, but seeing razor-sharp Walt unleash his elderly wrath commands nothing but awe-tinged respect. Hearing him threaten that "things are going to get real fucking ugly" if he ever sees the punk again in that gruff growl is so satisfying that it's reminiscent of watching Anton Chigurh or the Joker. You never want to run into these people, but you can't get enough of watching them on-screen.
Unfortunately, the rest of the cast can’t match the high standard set by Clint. His Hmong neighbors whom he eventually warms up to all seem wooden, and interactions between Walt and Sue especially end up feeling forced and awkward. But this doesn't end up detracting very much once you know that they are all played by authentic Hmong people, and only one of them has had any previous acting experience.
The real focus of the movie is on Walt's self-liberation from his haunted past, which occurs through various watershed moments with these people. Their closeness feels sincere and touching from the perspective of Walt, which leads to an inspiring climax in which Walt's actions manage not only to surprise your expectations but also perfectly punctuate the character. The script is smart, serves up some engaging twists, and gives Walt the room to explore his past and figure out the nature of himself.
Make no mistake about it -- Clint Eastwood is the crux of this movie, and his performance is triumphant and powerful. Whether you're laughing at his ignorance and absurdity, touched by his changes of heart, or just floored by how dominant his on-screen presence is, it's hard not to be impressed by Mr. Eastwood and his accomplishment with this film.
4 comments:
Awesome review. I didn't know that many of the actors were portrayed by actual Hmong people...which would've been great information to know before I wrote my review... Regardless, I definitely agree about Clint Eastwood's performance.
In China, Japanese banzai charges had previously met with frequent success against poorly-trained Chinese soldiers armed with bolt-action rifles. Armed with the Garand, US Infantrymen were able to sustain a much higher rate of fire than their Chinese counterparts. In the short-range jungle fighting, where opposing forces sometimes met each other in column formation on a narrow path, the penetration of the powerful .30-06 M2 cartridge enabled a single U.S. infantryman to kill up to three Japanese soldiers with a single round.
The M1 Garand. Respect it. Clint Eastwood does.
Really, as Ellen said, awesome review. You do an excellent job covering the script and the actors, and your lead is quite catchy. Review of your review: two thumbs up.
I agree with the others, your lead is really good. I'm really surprised with what you said about the script, I wish you had backed that up with something more detailed. Your review does read really smoothly, though, and I didn't get bored at any part. That is high praise considering I've read about 6 reviews of the same movie already. So great style, more detail about why you liked certain elements...but really well done overall.
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