Review: Gran Torino (2008) *** 1/2
Grrrrrr…
In Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood steps out from behind the camera and onto the big screen for the first time since 2004’s Million Dollar Baby. Taking a page from the character continuum he began with Dirty Harry, here he plays Walt Kowalski, a racist Korean War veteran, retired Detroit autoworker and recent widower. Alienated from his grown children and annoyed by his grandchildren, there’s little left for Walt but puttering around the house with his Labrador Retriever, pampering his prized 1972 Gran Torino, drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon from a cooler on the porch and grumbling about the Asians taking over his once-proud working class neighborhood.
However, Walt’s boring yet peaceful life is interrupted when a gang begins harrassing the family of Hmong who have moved in next door. Though he’d prefer to be left alone, Walt instead becomes a kind of reluctant hero and he seizes the opportunity to have a positive impact on a young man’s life in a way he failed to do with his own children.
It’s a trite framework for a film, but it’s perfectly suited to Eastwood as a director. Not the nimblest behind the camera, Eastwood’s thick-fingered directorial style fails him when subtlety or poetry are called for. Here however, the simple and direct storytelling of Gran Torino suit him perfectly.
On screen, Eastwood is all growl and scowl. It’s exaggerated, but it’s largely played to comic effect and it works. Walt is an extension of his stoic Man With No Name and Dirty Harry characters viewed 30 or 40 years on. He’s a racist misanthrope, but he seems to hate everyone equally. For fans it’s a pleasure to see the gruff persona again, especially knowing that it’s likely to be for the last time.
The other actors, some of them amateurs, don’t fair so well. Eastwood’s quick shooting style favors skilled professionals, but those playing Walt’s neighbors and children aren’t quite up to the task. Some of the tin-eared dialogue in the screenplay doesn’t help matters much either, but neither the writing nor the performances ruin the film. Instead they actually add to its rough charm.
Gran Torino stumbles a little bit when one of the characters is savagely beaten by the gang as retribution for Walt’s interference. There is a point in many of Eastwood’s action pictures where the hero is beaten nearly to death, only to emerge reborn to carry out his revenge. Somehow it’s more palatable when Clint is taking the beating, but when it’s transferred to an innocent, it feels manipulative. And it is.
Also, I worried that Gran Torino would set up the old revenge scenario where the bad guys are made out to be so horrible that the audience is allowed to take guilt-free pleasure at the hero’s violent retribution (for a recent example of this, see Rambo). It’s a time-honored scenario, but one I’m tired of particularly in light of recent geopolitical events. In this case, I assumed that Walt would simply be a surrogate for the audience’s own buried racism and vengeful bloodlust, but it turns out this is an older, wiser and more reflective version of the typical Eastwood character. I won’t tell you exactly how it ends, but suffice it to say it’s a much subtler conclusion than I was anticipating. Though the final shot lays it on thick, the workings of the plot are much more satisfying. If in The Unforgiven Clint realizes that violent revenge is a horrible, soul-crushing thing (which he carries out anyway), here he seems to be looking for a saner way to find satisfaction.
It’s far from perfect, but Gran Torino succeeds almost entirely on Eastwood’s performance as Walt. He’s just plain fun (and funny) to watch. As long as he’s on screen you’re getting your money’s worth and he’s on screen a lot. This is not a great film, but it’s an entertaining one and a fitting capstone to a character arc Eastwood has been exploring for over 40 years.
Gran Torino. USA 2008. Directed by Clint Eastwood. Screenplay by Nick Schenck from a screen story by Dave Johannson. Cinematography by Tom Stern. Edited by Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach. Music composed by Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens. Starring Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, Christopher Carley and John Carroll Lynch. 1 hour 56 minutes. MPAA rated R for language throughout, and some violence. 3.5 stars (out of 5)
Filed under: Reviews
Tags: Ahney Her, Bee Vang, Christopher Carley, Clint Eastwood, Dave Johannson, Gary D. Roach, Gran Torino, Joel Cox, John Carroll Lynch, Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens, Nick Schenck, Tom Stern
Yeah, I’m def. on the same page as you here. Even if I have pretty much forgotten about this film entirely already….oh well.
This is one of my favorite films of the year by far, and a very strong contender for my number one film of the year. I’m usually a fan of Eastwood’s work, but I really didn’t expect to love it as much as I did.
It completely floored me.
Matt you surprised me there. I never expected you to say it contended for #1, but yeah, it’s a quality work, and I know you really love it. I am close to Craig on this, although I will go with ****.
Yes Craig, the “growl and scowl” of Eastwood’s performance, which almost become self-parody if often hysterical and fully engaging. You rightly lauded his performance in this thorough and modestly appreciative assessment.
You are on a roll at this most exciting time of the movie year.
Here’s my question people: how important is this film? In other words, if I don’t get to it until well into January, am I doing myself a disservice? I can’t really tell from my skimming of Craig’s review or the three comments above.
Do tell.
Joel, As a fan of Eastwood the actor, you should see it, but I’d be shocked…SHOCKED I TELL YOU!…if it ended up on your Top 10 or anything. It was fun, but for me it quickly fades from memory.
It sounds like Sam liked it a bit better than me, Nick about the same, and Matthew saw something in it I didn’t.
Does that come close to answering your question?
I’d like to say you should make Doubt a priority, but based on other people’s more modest reactions to it….I can’t tell how that one will go over for you.
Not having seen this film yet, I can only imagine where my reaction will fall. But I still have a sneaking suspicion that Eastwood will get nominated for Best Actor, deservedly so or not.
Based on Oscar’s enthusiasm for Eastwood, I wouldn’t be shocked if he gets nominated. After Penn and Rourke I guess Langella will get in. Who else?
After GRAN TORINO was viewed a second time, it kind of lost something. It’s a very good film in a number of ways, but it follows familiar patterns. I enjoyed Eastwood’s performance, his score and the seeming metamorphosis of his character, but it’s nowhere near a top ten for me. It’s impact doesn’t hold.
Craig is right to promote DOUBT. That one really grows on you, as does BB.
Craig, to answer your question:
Richard Jenkins.
The screen actor’s guild nod may well carry over, and indeed it should if there is any justice.
Craig, would you recommend Gran Torino to someone who isn’t a fan of Clint Eastwood?
K I know you posed this question to Craig (who will surely answer it) but if I can add my sentiments, I would say (firmly)…….no……..this film will accentuaate the very qualities that turn you off to him, methinks.
But let’s see what Craig thinks.
K. No.
I can’t think of a single thing to recommend it to anyone who doesn’t go in liking Eastwood’s on screen persona…particular the cranky one.
Save yourself 10 bucks and go rent Blueberry Nights instead :)
“MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS”
Now there’s a film that deserves to contend for any ten-best list. It’s still contending for mine.
Richard Jenkins is a good call Sam. I knew I was forgetting someone.
A terrific review, Craig.
As I said over at CCC to readers of my review, I gave Eastwood a pass. I prefer Eastwood spinning simple morality tales rather than engaging in the folly of constructing unwieldy and clumsy melodramas, such as Changeling. This is my favorite Eastwood film in many a year. I actually agree with someone I read a few days ago who said that this should have been released at a non-awards season time of year, like spring, so it could be appreciated for what it is. It’s in many ways a weird, little film, tinny and tiny all at once, but its very modesty was something I appreciated. It’s about a beaten-down old man in one of the most beaten-down cities of a beaten-down country. It is not a sweeping, or especially elegant motion picture, but it managed to say more about America in 2008 than most films from this past year I’ve seen. Between all of the growling and grunting, anyway.
(Wow, my aborted comment from about 48 hours ago was infinitely superior to this uninspired screed of mine but it’s the best I could mount at this moment for some reason.)
That was a fine comment Alexander that I hope at least captures the spirit of your original.
I totally agree this movie should’ve been released during a more innocuous time of year.
I ended up having a couple of arguments with people who absolutely hated the movie prior to writing my review, so the warm glow I had leaving the theater was gone before I tossed this off.
This is Eastwood’s wheelhouse and he delivers behind and in front of the camera.
As a whole i think Gran Torino is really worth watching. I do understand that some parts are a little cliché and that the acting of Bee Vang (thao) is not the greatest. But the film has a sense of “real” below the surface, it feels like a vivid portrait of a hidden reality, of human feelings and emotions that are not always visible on the first encounter, with the first impression. And that is what i think the film is about, at the end of the day. I found it different than the usual the-poor-minorities-in-america movie, more original, and much more subtle. And Eastwood reinvents himself in a new genre, in a flawless performance.