Another good one from Eastwood

Rating: 8/10 (2 February 2010)

Clint Eastwood's "Gran Torino" is the story of an elderly widower who becomes a sort of mentor to a Hmong teenager who is repeatedly confronted by gang violence. Eastwood has stated that this would be his final role as an actor; if so, he'll have gone out in style.
Eastwood may not have the greatest range as an actor but he does well here as a disgruntled Korean war vet whose prejudices are challenged when he becomes involved in the lives of his expatriate neighbours. While decidedly un-PC, his matter-of-fact racism isn't particularly offensive when taken in context. Like Eastwood's other directorial effort of 2008, "Changeling", this film features some notable supporting work by relative unknowns, particularly Christopher Carley & Ahney Her.
The plot is interesting though I feel that it loses its way a little in the middle of the film. However, the ending doesn't disappoint and goes in an interesting direction that defies expectations.
Eastwood's direction is skillful, as usual, and the film generally looks good. I wouldn't compare its production values to "Changeling" but it is an above average effort. The score is also decent but not particularly remarkable.
While "Gran Torino" is indeed a good film I'm quite surprised to see it currently ranked among the top 100 films of all time in the IMDb top 250. Obviously I wasn't nearly as impressed with it as others were. In any case, the film is still well worth watching, even though it's somewhat overrated.