Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Clint Eastwood
Rating: M
Running Time: 116 minutes
Stars: 4.5
There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who like Clint Eastwood and those who don't. I am one of those people who do like him. As he is ageing in years, he is acting in movies less and less. So when there is a rare film with him in the starring role, Clint Eastwood fans know that it’s going to be good. For people of a younger generation who don't know who Clint Eastwood is, he is a 78-year-old Hollywood icon who made a name for himself in the 1960s starring in westerns, most famously as The Man With No Name in the Spaghetti Western trilogy, including the classic The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). hen came the Dirty Harry movies where he was the bad cop with the big gun who broke all the rules and said such memorable lines such as 'Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?' and 'Go ahead, make my day'.
Eastwood has become one of the best directors in Hollywood and cinema ever since the Academy Award winning poignant western Unforgiven (1992). His films have enormous depth to them and they are not simply a narrative story. They often explore an issue of some degree and are layered with imagery and allegory with a twist at the ends which just makes the film better than what it would be otherwise. In recent years he has directed Academy Award nominated and winning films such as Mystic River (2003), Million Dollar Baby (2004), and Letters From Iwo Jima (2006). Also showing at the moment is the Academy Award nominated Changeling, also directed by Clint Eastwood.
In Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, an angry, widowed, racist Korean War veteran who dislikes the world and those around him. He can't relate to his family and they are weary of him and his antisocial behaviour. When Thao, a Vietnamese teenager attempts to steal Walt's 1972 Ford Gran Torino as an initiation into a gang, Walt is reluctantly pulled into the boy's life and becomes his mentor. All the while, there is the gang lurking about and Walt makes all attempts to protect Thao and his family, with whom he has more in common than his own family.
Clint Eastwood is simply excellent in this film, both as an actor and a director. He really draws you in to the story and you find yourself empathizing with this bitter man and rejoicing with him as he loses his hard shell throughout the duration of the film. It's not a flashy film, it's not a blockbuster, but it is not a shoot'em up action film either, despite what the film's poster might suggest. Because of this, there is a feeling of reality to it, you come out feeling like people and neighbourhoods like those depicted in the film do exist in the real world. And it is funny. Particularly one scene where Walt takes it upon himself to teach Thao how to act like a man. In short, it is well made, it's gritty, it's raw and emotional and people who appreciate good stories and good acting will enjoy this.
