Great Movie, not enough good things I can say about it

Rating: 10/10 (9 September 2012)

Warning: there will be multiple spoilers contained herein and I will give ample warning in advanced.
Walt is a bitter, old bigot whose views on life in general have been galvanized by war, family issues and his ever-changing neighborhood. He also is mourning the loss of his wife. His constant racist remarks are actually funny in spite of themselves. I have learned an entire vocabulary of nasty sayings because of this film.
The more you get to know Walt, the more you start to see why he is the way he is and you feel bad for the guy. He doesn't have the best relationship with his son, something that he feels bad about. He's basically alone until some new neighbors move in next door.
Thao, one of his new next door neighbors is a troubled Hmong youth whose (Spoiler) gang initiation is to steal Walt's prized muscle car, a 1972 Gran Torino that he made off of the line when he was working for Ford.
Spoilers: At the funeral of his wife near the beginning, there is a scene where you see the grand daughter at her grandmother's funeral, dressed like a slut, exposing a belly button ring and a lip ring and she text messages on her phone during the funeral. At this point the film tries to do two things; one is that you can see the irritation on Walt's face at how times had changed and not necessarily for the better. Then you get it from the point of view of the kid and you see how the parents don't care. Yes, times have changed but it's a funeral! The grand daughter then goes on to ask dear old grandad (that she doesn't give a damn about) for a couch.
He doesn't like Thao right from the beginning and for obvious reasons but later you find that his relationship with Thao and with his sister Sue are the best relationships he has. The interactions throughout the movie with Walt and the Priest are awesome! The confession scene is pretty hilarious too.
(More Spoilers) Toward the halfway mark in the film things start getting more serious, there is gang violence, rape and ultimately death. The movie takes you on one hell of a ride but it's something that doesn't leave you feeling horrible despite the sad nature of the ending. It actually serves to give closure to Walt and to all around him. For me, a great moment was at the end when you see that his Son and Grand Daughter are both equally disappointed that neither of them inherited his prized Gran Torino. Despite Walt's grumpy and unpleasant nature, you really come to like the guy. He's a good person, he stands up for what is right and he does the most just and noble thing at the end in the name of saving the only people that truly cared about him.
This is a must see film!