Eastwood Shows That He Can Still Play Tough At 79

Rating: 8/10 (21 December 2009)

Clint Eastwood shows no signs of slowing as he tirelessly puts out another scintillating cinematic masterpiece that is "Gran Torino". This movie focuses on gangs and it's up to our main protagonist (Eastwood) to put an end to their rampage.
With violence being the centre of attention, it is executed in a patriotic fashion that has been performed by Americans and approved by their audience. It also concentrates on the benefits of friendship in a way that doesn't manipulate you into too much temptation where we encounter a climatic final showdown. The heroism is not designed to inflate one's ego, but handled in a very intellectual demeanour. There are times when Eastwood gets carried away with his heroic position to the point he ends up looking like Christ, especially in the final scene. In some ways I thought it was one of the more flawed scenes in the movie. I don't find his character to stand synonymous with the Catholic teachings and to be portrayed in such a light-hearted casual fashion. The character's heart-wrenching sacrifice is believable, the gesture itself is handled Biblicly where someone takes something of his/her own to save the life of another human will eternally be magical, no matter how many millions of times it has been executed in movies.
Another small qualm is that some actors are less effective than others. It's like they're either trying to hard to keep up and others aren't trying at all.Christopher Carley who played the priest is absolutely abysmal. Bee Vang as Thao, needs to enrol in an actors program. However, Ahney Her was absolutely stunning and impressive as the Thao's intelligent and level-headed sister. When she becomes harassed by the street gangs surrounding the area, we anxiously await for Dirty Harry's longly-needed comeback to come armed and take down these mindless parasites a taste of their blood. As much as awards are rigged, I think Miss Her should have deserved an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, because she was the best character in the movie, even usurping Eastwood's Walt Kowalski.
For the past two decades, Eastwood has created some very remarkable films. "Bird" was a definitive masterpiece, "Unforgiven" had enough blood for all those who love a little blood and gore. "Mystic River" just oozes with beauty. "Million Dollar Baby" gave strong performances by the cast (especially Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman), but the direction was not one of Eastwood's best. "Gran Torino" should have gotten more credit than it has deserved and even though Eastwood is not as young as was (no one is for that matter) he can still pack a punch at 79 years old.