← Back to Reviews
 

Gran Torino


Gran Torino (2008)

I guess I'm on an Eastwood kick right now.

If there's ever a movie that captures the goodwill and wholeheartedness of the elderly, one need look no further than Gran Torino and Walt Kowalski.

After reviewing what I wrote on Mystic River, I would like to change my stance on that. Not saying that Torino is any better, but they're certainly up there.

The way the human mind works in pushing people away is a mystery. We see that very clearly with Walt. He's just lost his wife, has no relationship with his kids, and is the last white man left on his block. Walt considers himself a true American, he's a war veteran of the Korean War, and he worked for 40 years in a Ford plant. He looks in disgust at the youth of today, simply because they don't have any morals.

While this isn't a film about retaliation, revenge and sticking up for yourself, it's a film about letting go of the past and what you think is right, as the movie progresses, you see Walt's demeanor change, from being a rude, angry old man to a wonderful mentor.

I do have problems with this, but they are small things I noticed throughout. For instance, the three black guys who are attacking Sue, suddenly back off and reduce themselves to toddlers in front of Walt. While I think that a lot of self-proclaimed "thugs" are nothing more than big babies trying to act tough, I have a hard time believing that three young men were so overpowered by an old man with a gun, when they had a gun themselves. There were a couple other scenes, somewhat like this, that had me thinking twice, but they didn't ruin the movie for me.

Gran Torino is a movie for those who think that people can't be defined outside of their stereotypes. Definitely worth a watch.