Gran Torino (2009)
Director: Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, Ahney Her
Screenplay: Nick Schenk
Running Time: 116 minutes
Reading the premise of Clint Eastwood’s latest outing my first thoughts were “Don’t do it Clint!”
Here's a guy whose early career got box-holed into the vigilante, tainted avenger role, only for his later years to gain some much-deserved credibility - not only as a versatile actor, but as a double Academy award-winning director.
However, I needn't have worried. Eastwood the director is far too smart to let Eastwood the actor fall into clichés, and so my fear of a Hollywood legend falling flat on his face was allayed.
Eastwood does play the character as described, but there are more facets to Walt Kowalski than similar fair offered up by a Dirty Harry Callaghan or the Man With No Name from the Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns. I should have known better after he took a detour with such characterization as William Munny in Unforgiven.
Pic is the story of how a grumpy old man puts the a local Korean teenager on the straight and narrow after the latter tries to steal Walt's Gran Torino at the behest of the local ethnic gang. What follows is a story of redemption, but with a kick at the close that lends it to being more realistic, instead of the contrived ending that most probably expected and Eastwood and his backers must have been tempted to do.
An Eastwood classic? No, but not a bomb either.
3.5 stars out of 5
