"As Good As It Gets" meets "Dirty Harry"

Rating: 8/10 (17 March 2009)

"Gran Torino" really took me by surprise. I expected a movie that was much more serious in tone. After the epic "Changeling", the two World War II movies, "Million Dollar Baby" and "Mystic River" I didn't think Eastwood would get back to entertaining cinema anymore. And yet, "Gran Torino" is just that for the most part. The first two thirds of the movie are actually laugh out loud funny. Eastwood's Walt Kowalski runs his mouth with so many politically incorrect statements, it's a delight. The character is somehow reminiscent of Jack Nicholson in "As Good As It Gets", but of course Eastwood adds his own "Dirty Harry"-spin.
Kowalski is a gun toding, grumpy old Republican, slightly racist, but with a golden heart. At first disgusted by the all Asian neighbourhood, Walt doesn't give a crap about the people living next door. However, more or less by accident he strikes up an unlikely friendship with the family's daughter and finds himself caring more and more for her and her mother and brother.
As I've said, watching this movie you can have a jolly good time. The line's are funny because Eastwood delivers his racist slurs so dryly and quickly. It's not all mindless comedy, though. If it was, you wouldn't care as much for the characters. "Gran Torino" has a nice morale to it - drawing blood for blood isn't the right thing to do, and prejudice is no good.
Still, Eastwood's latest movie as a director (and his last as an actor) is more entertaining than it is educating. The dialog seems structured for the most part, the characters are a bit clichéd and the ending is highly unrealistic. None of that takes away from the quality of Eastwood's work, though. I'd even go as far as calling this the best movie he's made since "Unforgiven", maybe even longer.