"GRAN TORINO": ONE OF THE BEST FILMS OF 2008
Written: Jan 09 '09 (Updated Jan 09 '09)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Eastwood's acting and directing, great script full of humor and pathos
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: I catergorized this film as a "family movie" because it tells the story of one man and his "alternate" family of immigrant neighbors.
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| mike.holmes's Full Review: Gran Torino |
Although "Gran Torino" opened in late 2008 for Academy Award purposes, the film was released nationally today. While I have heard a few complaints about the film, the majority of the publicity for the movie has been positive. I personally believe that the movie is one of the best films of the year and that Clint Eastwood should get at least one Oscar nomination for his work in the movie.
THE PLOT
As the film opens, we find Walt Kowalski (Eastwood-"Unforgiven", "Dirty Harry", "Million Dollar Baby") standing at the funeral of his wife. Walt is an older, bitter man who really can't stand his own children an grandchildren or the neighbors surrounding his modest Michigan home. As for his children, there is just reason for his opinion of them as his two sons and their children appear to be spoiled and uncaring.
Walt's dislike of his neighbors stems from the fact that he is the old "white" person left in the neighborhood. His next door neighbors are Asians from the Hmong people. Walt fought in the Korean War and doesn't think very highly of anyone from that part of the world. Then again, Walt doesn't think very highly of any minority group.
Events both negative and positive cause Walt to become involved in the lives of his Hmong neighbors. At first, he really detests young Thao Vang Lor (Bee Vang-first movie). He tolerates Thao's sister, Sue Lor (Ahney Her) but it takes Walt a long time to warm up to the family.
An important subplot concerns the deceased wife's priest, Father Janovich (Christopher Carley-"Lions For Lambs", "Garden State") who promised her that he would take Walt's confession. Walt is not a big fan of the church and there are some great scenes of his confrontation with the young priest.
WHY I LOVED THIS FILM
As we left the theater, my wife made the comment that Clint Eastwood movies, including this one, don't have any "fat" in them. Every scene and every character in the film contributes to the story. It is well known that Eastwood is loved by the studios becasue he always finishes movies ahead of schedule and under budget.
The only reason I emphasize this is that Clint (who has directed great films from "Unforgiven" to "Mystic River" and "Million Dollar Baby) took a number of chances in this film. The two main Hmong characters, Thao and Sue, who portrayed by young actors who had never made a film before. While I read one criticism of their acting, I thought both actors brought a realism to their portrayals.
Eastwood himself has never been better than he is as Walt Kowalski. Clint has facial expressions that are worth lines of dialogue. He portrays a bigot who is somehow lovable in his own way. Part of the reason for that is that Walt dislikes everybody. His language is full of digs at the racial background of every character from Blacks, to Hispanics, to the Polish and Irish. Interestingly, now that Walt's wife is dead, his biggest joys in life are his mint condition 1972 Gran Torino and his dog Daisy.
At the heart of his character, however, Walt as portrayed by Eastwood is not a bad person. Much of the positive credit for the film has to go to screenwriter Nich Schenk. Contrary to my recent rants against first time movie screenwriters, Schenk has written a remarkable screenplay which includes laughing-out-loud comedy, extreme violence and emotionally moving themes.
All of the acting my those portraying the Hmong people are generally played by first time actors. There are several "gang" members in the film who all do a realistic job of portraying unlikable jerks.
John Carroll Lynch ("Zodiac") plays Walt's barber and provides several of the best to and fro lines of dialogue with Walt.
As always, the soundtrack for an Eastwood film includes some fine jazz. The best song is heard with the credits. Entitled "Gran Torino", the song is first sung very softly by Eastwood and then turned over to the great young British singer Jamie Cullum. Kyle Eastwood and Cullum joined Clint in composing the song.
The film is much more concerned with tight, individual shots than "grand views" and director of photography Tom Stern ("Mystic River", "Flags of Our Fathers", "American Beauty") does a great job of showing all of those interior and personal scenes.
I definitely think that Eastwood should be nominated for an Oscar for his acting and directing for the film.
FIVE STARS
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Family Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing
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mike.holmes
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Member: Mike Holmes
Location: Odessa, Texas
Reviews written: 1263
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About Me:
TO HONOR TED KENNEDY, CONGRESS SHOULD PASS A MEANINGFUL HEALTH CARE BILL
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