The End of The Trail Maybe?

Rating: 10/10 (16 January 2009)

I thought this movie was superb. If this is Clint riding out into the sunset then what a way to go. His legacy is one that will never be matched. From Rawhide to Gran Torino, we have watched this actor/director transform a character into someone real and genuine. Clint is in a class all his own, with no peer anywhere near him both in focus and originality.
Walt Kowalski(Eastwood)is an individual distraught by his wife's death and the changing world around him. The remaining members of his family are viewed by Kowalski as blood-sucking vultures and rightly so. His neighbors, Asian in heritage, surround him and his dog. He has watched as his neighborhood has racially and culturally changed and has deep resentment toward his neighbors. His racial epithets continue, even though his next-door neighbors consider him a hero, after standing up to the neighborhood punks who rule the mid-western city neighborhood he lives in. His tough love and fatherly approach toward his young Asian neighbor is heartwarming, even after the boy tries to steal his Grand Torino initially. The boy needs Walt and Walt needs him to try and understand their place in an ever-changing world. Kowalski is a man who is lost in the 1950's. A Korean war veteran who has killed and has seen killing. His hate for Asians, presumably due to the war, is subdued after acts of kindness by his neighbors and the boy he befriends. Kowalski's parish priest is persistent in attempting to subdue the hate that boils within Kowalski. In the end the priest gets through to Kowalski, learning something from Walt as well. Kowalski repents in the end and offers up the supreme sacrifice for his Asian neighbors. A heart-warming story that leads one on an emotional roller-coaster.