Not Among Eastwood's Best

Rating: 7/10 (31 August 2009)

Although I am a big fan of Eastwood and have enjoyed most of his films, I found Gran Torino to be overly sentimental and I'm confused by the high IMDb rating. The plot thread is almost banal - why would the tough Asian gang devote so much effort in pursuit of the teenage boy who did not want to be a member? and lacked credibility - the sick old man was able to intimidate these gang members? and is too familiar - hardened racist comes around, honorable man sacrifices his life for justice and absolves himself of past sins through his last actions on earth, etc., etc. And I disagree with the comment that viewers were permitted to 'make up our own minds'. In this film, the moral of the story was in the viewer's face and an emotional response was overtly solicited. Compared to Unforgiven, a film that was both powerful and subtle, and avoided obvious moral judgments, Gran Torino is an amateurish piece.