Cinema Voyage - Michael Pearson

This blog is PRIMARILY about movies. Some dvd and some that are still in the theater. Also, links are provided on some movies if you decide you want to purchase it. Also, I write and read quite a bit. So, you may, from time to time see a book review here from an up-and-coming author or an interview with one. If you have a book that you have written, please don't hesitate to contact me if you want an unbiased opinion. I would be happy to read and review what you've written. We should value our creative people more.

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Review - Gran Torino

June 3rd 2009 11:31

Gran Torino may have been the return of Clint Eastwood to acting since Million Dollar Baby (2004), but he has been far from Idle. Choosing instead to remain behind the camera as director he has managed to create some very interesting and complex films including the release of 2008's Changeling.

Clint Eastwood is Walt Kowalski, Korean war veteran, widower to his dear departed wife and father to his two somewhat estranged sons. He is a loner - bitter, cantankerous, racist and stubborn to a fault. Preferring to sit on his front porch with his labrador Daisy rather than attempt any form of social contact with his family and Asian neighbours, his one true love other than his wife, is that of his treasured Gran Torino.

However he does have principles. When strife arrives in the form of gang hoodlums on his front lawn then he is the first to defend his property and neighbours although purely for his own selfish reasons. Pleased that he acted in their defence, Walt unwittingly becomes a neighbourhood hero on his own turf with the neighbouring Hmong community bringing gifts in the form of food and plants. He insists that he does not want any recognition or attention although he soon realises that the gifts they bear are delicious, and they soon become welcome additions to his bachelor lifestyle.

The racist slurs do not stop with the increased interaction with the neighbours, in fact quite the opposite. He loves a good slander battle and when the smart-talking neighbour Sue (first time actor Ahney Her) invites him to a bbq then he finds himself agreeing to the invitation. The bbq is the first formal gathering in which Walt has met the family and he finds himself learning a lot more about the Hmong people than he ever wanted to know. After having written off Sue's older brother Thao as a "pussy", Sue encourages Walt to talk to him in order to help him out with a few issues. And this he does without any problem at all. He does not hesitate in telling Thao what is wrong with him and takes him under his wing, offering advice in regard to his work, friends and lovelife.

Walt makes no excuses for who he is and he believes that his behaviour is the way real American men should act, as shown with the banter between him and his barber (John Carroll Lynch). Although he does have regrets. He regrets not having been close to his sons when they were growing up and his insistence that they stay away is no longer met with any arguments. In fact they prefer it that way.

Clint steals this show in this movie. Many of the characters in the film were portrayed by first time actors and even though this detracts slightly from the overall quality, the movie is finely polished.

Voyage Review: 4/5

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Posted By: Michelle Sweeney - Category: Drama

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