Movie Review: Gran Torino

Gran Torino.

So here's the first movie about a sad loner mad at the world likely to win an Oscar nomination for best picture. The other is "The Wrestler", which I liked a lot more. This movie just seems too obvious.

Clint Eastwood grumbles. A lot. I don't know if he does this in his other movies. The only movie I can actually remember seeing him in was Million Dollar Baby. He wasn't quite as grumbly in that one. Seriously, every time he opens his mouth it sounds like rocks are grinding together in his throat. He doesn't even have to be saying anything. It just comes out, like there's something alive in his throat doing it independently of his trachea.

Anyway, onto the movie itself. Gran Torino is the story of a grumpy, racist, old man named Walt who's wife has just died. People don't like Walt, and Walt doesn't like most people. Over the course of the movie, he begins to warm up to the people next door, whom he previously hated because they were Asian.


I liked this movie . Not a whole lot, but a decent amount. Eastwoods acting is pretty spectacular, but only when he's being subtle. There are a few scenes where he gets angry at his family that he just comes across as faking it. It's strange, really to see the difference, between these scenes and spots when he's got a gun in his hand. It's almost like the gun is a bit of a crutch for him; when he's defending his neighbors from gangs, and runs out with his precious rifle he's held onto since the Korean war, and grumbles "get off my lawn", which, suprisingly comes off as threatening. But when his kids are trying to convice him to move into a retirement home, his face quivers and his eyes shake, and it looks so cartoony that you half expect steam to come out of his ears.

Everyone else in the movie does a fine job, especially the Hmong actors, all of whom, barring the daughter Sue, were amateurs. This lent a level of authenticity to the film, since they were supposed to feel awkward around Walt anyway. There's some fairly obvious symbolism thrown in, that just bugged me. Sue, the neighbor girl is abducted by the local gang of ruffians that Walt previously scared off, and Walt gets angry, runs home and starts punching things. The next shot is a close up of his hands, all covered in blood. Yeah. We get it. It's partially Walt's fault.

The film runs a little long, much like this review, but it's well put together, albeit a bit obvious. It contains a lot more humor than you'd expect, and its during these parts that I liked it the best. I feel like I knew what was going to happen the whole time, and the ending I saw coming a mile away. This movie is worth seeing, if only because Eastwood can be so convincing, but if you're only going to see one movie about a depressed and broken man this year, make it "The Wrestler"