Grand Torino is about change

Rating: 9/10 (4 February 2010)

Grand Torino is about change. Walt (Clint Eastwood) is a Korean War veteran, a retired factory worker and a widower. Walt lives in a Michigan neighborhood that use to be a nice neighborhood. As his old neighbors leave the new neighbors move in and they come Korea and other places. The houses aren't kept up like they use to. The attitude of the new neighbors are the opposite of Walt's. Even Walt's own family try to change Walt but they can't. However, there was only one thing that didn't change. It was Walt's pride and joy which was a grand torino car that he helped build in 1972.
Throughout the movie change did happen. Walt didn't like his next door neighbors, Thao (Bee VAng), Sue (Ahney Her) and family, because they were from Korea. Walt didn't like Koreans because he fought against during the war. Thao tries to steal Walt's grand torino and Walt catches him in the act. At first, Walt was mad with Thao but eventually works with Thao by teaching him how to repair things, help Thao get a job and even taught Thao how to get the attention of a girl. Walt becomes friends with Sue when she is trapped by a group of boys who wasn't letting Sue go past them and Walt rescues her from them. After that Walt learns more about Sue and her family. Walt learns more about himself after Sue's grandfather reads him at a family picnic. Walt changes his attitude toward Thao, Sue and their family. He even changes his attitude toward his own family by a little bit. With the change, Walt becomes a person who wants to look out for others, especially Thao and Sue.
If I remember correctly, Clint Eastwood's character in "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" was a person who looked out for people who, at one time, fought against. Both movies were set in two different time periods but the viewer could see how different events can change people.
The angle of the camera in Grand Torino showed the viewer the different sides of Walt. The viewer cold see Walt's reaction to different events, such as how he reacted when he saw his grandchildren at their grandmother's funeral. The viewer could see the smile in Walt's face when he found out that Thao had asked a girl out. The viewer can also see how Walt reacts to the change at his doctor's office.
Sound effects is very helpful because they help tell the story. The viewer can hear things that are in sight and what's out of sight. The viewer can hear the car stereos in cars as they go by, groceries dropping to the ground, ceiling fans that's broken, gun shots, Walt slamming his fists into the cabinets, beer cans being opened, and a lighter hitting the ground as Walt falls down when he gets shot by a gang. Two examples of the out of sight sounds are birds in the trees and a basement door closing.
In closing, Grand Torino shows the viewer how things can change from bad to good, no matter where the viewer lives.