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Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood, 2008) -
Eastwood's film is a seemingly-simple, yet deceptively-poignant-and-relevant tale which delineates a story, both visually and scriptwise, as economically as possible. Grand Torino also seems to have some special personal meaning for Eastwood because he really gets to dig deeply into his character, and he must have worked very closely with scripter Nick Schenk on his motives. I was laughing almost immediately every time Eastwood's Walt Kowalski grimaced, moaned, growled or bad-mouthed somebody, and that was most all the time. This is another of those kind of films that they just don't seem to make anymore, but when you have such an archetypal story, you can trust in its elegance to play out its hand slowly and surely, even including a bluff in case it really needs it. Obviously, I haven't really gone into the plot at all so far, and I was hoping I could get away without doing it, but maybe I'll add another paragraph.
Walt Kowalski basically hates everyone. Even when the movie begins with his wife's funeral, you get the feeling that Walt held his wife in contempt for being superstitious and dragging him to church weekly. He certainly hates his two sons and their families, and he most certainly hates all the "gooks" who have taken over his neighborhood. Walt is a veteran of the Korean War who was awarded the Silver Star, and he also worked 40 years on an auto assembly line, going so far to actually having personally produced much of his pride and joy, his mint condition 1972 Gran Torino. The people living in Walt's neighborhood are the Hmong who migrated from Southeast Asia to America after the Vietnam War. Walt doesn't want anything to do with any of them, but through circumstances beyond his control (well, that and his handy, reliable M1 rifle), he befriends teenage boy Thao (Bee Vang) and his older sister Sue (Ahney Her) and becomes a local hero among his Hmong neighbors. Gangbangers of all races also factor into the story, as well as a baby-faced priest (Christopher Carley) who hounds Walt to attend confession and do the right thing. By the time the film's poetic final scene plays out over the closing credits and title song, it's obvious to the more astute members of the audience that Eastwood and Walt both did the right thing. Walt not only revealed himself as a Man and released his inner demons, but Eastwood provided a thought-provoking entertainment with more heart and humanity than most alleged serious filmmakers could ever hope to emulate.
Eastwood's film is a seemingly-simple, yet deceptively-poignant-and-relevant tale which delineates a story, both visually and scriptwise, as economically as possible. Grand Torino also seems to have some special personal meaning for Eastwood because he really gets to dig deeply into his character, and he must have worked very closely with scripter Nick Schenk on his motives. I was laughing almost immediately every time Eastwood's Walt Kowalski grimaced, moaned, growled or bad-mouthed somebody, and that was most all the time. This is another of those kind of films that they just don't seem to make anymore, but when you have such an archetypal story, you can trust in its elegance to play out its hand slowly and surely, even including a bluff in case it really needs it. Obviously, I haven't really gone into the plot at all so far, and I was hoping I could get away without doing it, but maybe I'll add another paragraph.
Walt Kowalski basically hates everyone. Even when the movie begins with his wife's funeral, you get the feeling that Walt held his wife in contempt for being superstitious and dragging him to church weekly. He certainly hates his two sons and their families, and he most certainly hates all the "gooks" who have taken over his neighborhood. Walt is a veteran of the Korean War who was awarded the Silver Star, and he also worked 40 years on an auto assembly line, going so far to actually having personally produced much of his pride and joy, his mint condition 1972 Gran Torino. The people living in Walt's neighborhood are the Hmong who migrated from Southeast Asia to America after the Vietnam War. Walt doesn't want anything to do with any of them, but through circumstances beyond his control (well, that and his handy, reliable M1 rifle), he befriends teenage boy Thao (Bee Vang) and his older sister Sue (Ahney Her) and becomes a local hero among his Hmong neighbors. Gangbangers of all races also factor into the story, as well as a baby-faced priest (Christopher Carley) who hounds Walt to attend confession and do the right thing. By the time the film's poetic final scene plays out over the closing credits and title song, it's obvious to the more astute members of the audience that Eastwood and Walt both did the right thing. Walt not only revealed himself as a Man and released his inner demons, but Eastwood provided a thought-provoking entertainment with more heart and humanity than most alleged serious filmmakers could ever hope to emulate.