A Daring and Thoughtful Film

Rating: 10/10 (21 December 2008)

I feel Clint Eastwood in many ways went way out on a limb in this film. First of all it is a thoughtful film. He is dealing with a clash of cultures, age, religion, and tradition. There are many themes being played out throughout this film and I think Eastwood handled them well. I mean, how many American released films are centered around the Hmong people? Like none. So, with that Eastwood was daring. Not only does he try to bring a group of people onto the screen who have been virtually ignored, he also takes off the kid gloves and makes the main character a partial antagonist. To those thinking about seeing the film let me warn you, the language is pretty rough for those with a thin skin. At times Eastwoods character made me uneasy with his outwardly racist comments, I guess that means Clint did a great job of acting.
Anyways, in summary, this is a very good film, Eastwood's acting is amazing, the younger actors do an okay job most of the time. Clint will win best actor for this film. The film will not win best picture, but it is not that far off.