MOVIE REVIEW: Gran Torino

Clint Eastwood plays widower and Korean war veteran Walt Kowalski, a grim soul and general curmudgeon whom even his family can’t stand.  He’s also a bigot who seemingly hates everything about the modern world.  He lives in a neighborhood that is populated by several Hmong families.      When a Hmong teenager named Tao (Bee Vang) tries to steal Walt’s prized 1972 Gran Torino as part of a gang initiation, it unleashes a long gestating fury within Walt.  In accordance with Hmong tradition, Tao’s mother orders him to work for Walt as penance for his sins.  This indentured servitude leads to redemption for Walt.  Walt teaches the young boy everything he needs to know in order to become a man.  Along the way, he grows quite fond of the boy and his family, despite his own racism and inner-demons.     If all of this sounds rather sappy and predictable, that’s because it is.  That the material works to the extent that it does is due in large part to Eastwood himself.  As a director, Eastwood has always been at his best when he tells small stories that deal with big themes.  He is as restrained as he’s ever been here.  He simply sits back and lets the story tell itself, which is usually the best approach for material like this.  Eastwood and his screenwriter, Nick Schenk, take a straight-forward, unpretentious approach.  They manage to keep the melodrama and “big moments” to a minimum (at least until the third act).      While the film doesn’t quite fall apart in the third act, it definitely takes a downturn in quality.  Walt’s play to keep the gangs away from Tao and his family lead to tragic (and expected) results.  Walt rectifies the situation the only way he knows how.  This is meant to reinforce a running theme in the film: an old man stuck not only in another time and place, but in his own ways.  While the ending makes logical sense, one wishes that the Eastwood and Schenk could have found a less predictable resolution.   Eastwood is simply gold as Walt Kowalski.  It’s his most entertaining performance since “Gunny” way in Heartbreak Ridge.  Walt is funny yet tragic, and often comes off as an extremist parody of the classic Eastwood persona.  We get the usual Eastwood “tough-guy” moments, but with an odd twist.  This guy is what one of Clint’s classic movie characters would be like if they existed in real life.  Think about it: Would a guy like “Dirty” Harry Callahan be so cool and entertaining to you if you actually had to live next door to him?   The characters in the Tao’s family range from serviceable to wooden.  The only one that stands out is Ahney Herr as Sue, Tao’s older sister.  Sue’s relationship with Walt proves to be, in some ways, more interesting than his relationship with Tao.  The Hmong Gang characters play like stock stereotypes from any numbers of 90’s ‘Hood’ flicks.  They seem to exist simply to provide the film with villains and adversity, but Walt’s inner demons and outward unpleasantness provide the film with all the conflict it needs.  Audiences love melodrama, and Clint Eastwood does that type of material well.  Here, it seems a bit unnecessary and forced.   Gran Torino isn’t truly a great film, but it’s a satisfying one.  Its  attempt to touch the soul isn’t completely successful, but it’s such an admirable effort that we are willing to give Eastwood the benefit of the doubt.  Even though he doesn’t quite get there, we see what he was reaching for.   Torino is certainly his most engaging and entertaining.  It’s a small and sometimes sappy story, but it manages to be touching and affecting despite underdeveloped villains and a predictable third act.