Gran Torino
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, Ahney Her
Dir: Clint Eastwood
Rating: 5/5
Clint Eastwood returns to acting with Gran Torino, after directing duties on Changeling, as he stars in, as well as directs, what is rumoured to be his last on screen performance.
Eastwood stars as Walt Kowalski, an unabashed bigot who never heard a racial insult he didn't love. Bitter, haunted, and full of pride, Walt refuses to abandon the neighbourhood he's lived in for decades despite its changing demographics as he clings desperately to a mindset long since out of step with the times.
When his Hmong neighbour Thao tries to steal his prized muscle car as part of a gang initiation, Walt is forced to grapple with the world around him.
It’s time to get the rant out of the way how the Academy could ignore both Eastwood’s tour-de-force performance as well as his skill as a filmmaker at this year’s Oscars buggers belief.
Gran Torino provides one of Eastwood’s best on screen performances as Walt struggles to come to terms with the changing world around him as well as showing his own prejudices and ignorance.
Walt is a tortured character who is very much plagued by the past and his actions during the Korean War and the horror s that he witnessed. Despite his fowl mouthed rants and un-PC behaviour you can’t help but like Walt as he despairs with the behaviour of the younger generations.
As well as shining in front of the camera Eastwood also excels as a filmmaker as Gran Torino is a powerful movie that explores prejudice and racial divides as well as the gulf that exists between generations.
As well as tackling these issues you will be surprised that it’s a very funny and, in places, also a very tender movie as Walt develops a great relationship with both Thao and Sue.
For his entire career Eastwood has been the king of the anti-hero and in his swansong movie he returns to a similar character as Walt is mean, rude, and racist but is a good man at heart who goes on a learning curve so late in life that by the end you are truly rooting for him.
There’s also a great performance from newcomer Bee Vang as the quiet and bullied Thao who is struggling to find his place in America feeling he doesn’t fit in and pushed around on all sides.
Striking an unlikely friendship with Walt the young Thai comes out of his shell and it’s a confident acting display from the youngster making his movie debut.
In all Gran Torino is truly a classy piece of filmmaking, which is what we have come to expect from Eastwood with the likes of Unforgiven, Changeling and Million Dollar Baby under his belt, this falls alongside them.
The great script is backed up by excellent performances from all, particularly the leading man, and is a movie that keeps you hooked from start to finish. It’s an absolute must see for 2009 truly brilliant.
If this is to be Eastwood’s final acting performance then cinema has lost one of its greatest movie star but blimey what a way to go!
Gran Torino is out on DVD now.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw