Movie Review: Gran Torino (2008)

Synopsis: Recently widowed Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski has prejudiced views toward the Hmong that have bought most of the houses in his neighborhood and nearly shoots his teenage next-door neighbor, Thao when the latter attempts to steal his vintage 1972 Gran Torino as part of a gang initiation. However, when he saves both Thao and his sister, Sue, from the neighborhood gangs, he inadvertently and reluctantly becomes a neighborhood hero. As he grows closer with those neighbors and the gang violence escalates, Walt decides to put an end to it once and for all.

Who's in it? The movie stars Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, Christopher Carley and Brian Haley.

Review: While Gran Torino has been out for some time now, I never got around to watching the movie until last night, when it happened to come on and my wife and I had nothing better to do. The film was both a surprise and a good choice.

Walt (Eastwood) was an intriguing character. You could tell there was a lot of anger in him, and his non-stop racist comments were something that didn't make him very approachable. In fact, when the movie revealed his estrangement from his sons and their families, it was difficult to tell who was more at fault. I mean, he wasn't making much of an effort but that granddaughter of his (Dreama Walker) needed a serious attitude adjustment.

I also liked the decision to not make any drastic changes to Walt throughout the movie, even as he grew closer with Thao (Vang), Sue (Ahney) and the rest of the neighborhood. While he accepted their invitation to a barbecue, learned more about the Hmong culture, etc. his personality was basically the same throughout, with more than a few random insults thrown in even as he was making peace with his neighbors. 

This also led to some interesting interactions between Walt and Father Janovich (Carley), the priest his deceased wife asked to look after him. Walt's view of religion walked the line between blasphemous and fairly accurate while both men seemed to have some impact on each other as the movie progressed.

My favorite scene though had to be the barbershop scene, with Walt and his barber friend, Martin (John Caroll Lynch) teaching Thao how to "be more of a man." It ended up being a lot funnier than I would have expected it to be, especially when it helped land Thao both a job and a date.

The end of this movie was definitely not what I was expecting from a Clint Eastwood film and proved to be both surprising and more than a little depressing, even though Walt's actions at the end did ultimately make sense as a long-term solution to the gang problem. His final slight toward his family left me a bit mixed. They had it coming but it also felt like he should have at least made more of an attempt to make amends.

Final Opinion: As I said, it wasn't quite what I was expecting but it turned out to be an interesting albeit a bit sad film. It's worth watching if you get the chance.

My Grade: A

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