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'Gran Torino:' classic car, classic Eastwood
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Gran Torino
This Christmas is a film buff's dream come true. There are three, count them three, academy award worthy films opening on that day in the DC area and all of them have garnered awards from the Washington Area Film Critics Association. Let's start with Gran Torino and then move on to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Wrestler. All three are great films so I hope I can help you decide which great film you want to see over the others.
Gran Torino is Clint Eastwood doing what Clint Eastwood does best. Actually, Clint Eastwood does a lot of things "best," but he did being a bad a** best before he did being a director, producer and actor best. That's right, at the age of 78 Clint Eastwood is still as hard edged as ever, but now his tough guy act is in a film directed by one of the greatest directors of our time: himself.
The film sees Eastwood return to his gruff and hardened self as Walt Kowalski, a embittered Korean War veteran whose wife has just died and who lives in a community that use to be the good side of town when he moved in decades ago, but has now turned into a Hmong gang ridden neighborhood. Eastwood spends a good chunk of the beginning of the film muttering about how things were better in his day, before casting off the grumpy old man exterior for a bona fide butt kicker when one of the boys living next door gets attacked by a gang and he comes to the rescue with a shotgun and that angry stare only Eastwood can deliver.
Of course things start to develop from there with Kowalski becoming more involved in the community around him and standing up to the gangs, who at one point try to steal his classic, mint condition Gran Torino. It sounds like a plot out of a cheesy cop movie or maybe yet another Death Wish, but in the hands of Eastwood the film is far more powerful and moving than its simple story hints at. Plus, Nick Schenk's screenplay is creative and interesting enough to elevate it above the normal revenge story fare. Not to mention the fact that it allows Eastwood to deliver some of his best one-liners since "Go ahead, make my day."
I fear, though, that I am selling this movie on the wrong strong points, and that those looking for, say, a more intellectual pursuit may avoid it because of the references to one-liners and Dirty Harry. For those thinking this -- don't. The film goes far beyond catchy lines and tough guy actions to deliver not only one of Eastwood's best performance as an actor, but also one of his best directorial efforts too. Although the film can sometimes play itself out a little too much, especially with some of the other lesser known actors in it, it is always engaging and interesting.
If Gran Torino truly is Eastwood's final directing effort, than what a way to go out. Not only does he deliver a fantastic directing effort but he return to the hard-edged roots he became known for. The film is perfect Eastwood in every facet of his film making career.
Recent Reviews: The Wrestler, The Spirit, Seven Pounds
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