Gran Torino (2008) ***

Rating: 7/10 (19 January 2009)

Senior citizen Clint Eastwood portrays Walt Kowalski, a tough, old fashioned, angry, racist Korean War Vet who has just lost his wife of many years and is now going it alone in his home. The neighborhood has changed over the years and its citizens are now mainly Asians or black people, who Walt has nothing but disdain for, using each and every prejudicial slur in the book (and many others I don't think I've ever heard) as part of his regular hateful vocabulary. He even wants no part of his kindly Hmong next door neighbors until he encounters the young teenage brother and sister, who begin to make a slight dent in his cynical armor. Kowalski is eventually faced with a turn of events which will ultimately determine what he's made of at this late stage in his life.
If this is to be Clint Eastwood's last film, it would be a case of his going out on a high note. At first I didn't know what to make out of Eastwood's over the top racial rantings ... they were so exaggerated and cartoonish that he was coming off as satirical. There are a lot of funny lines in the film in spite of this, and it's a relief that the script winds up making us care about Walt in contrast to his ways, which believe it or not actually begin to make him endearing as the story progresses (you have to see for yourself). If I am going to get picky, the acting wasn't the greatest. At times I thought even Clint's delivery seemed a bit false, or that he was pausing while delivering some of lines, or something. But this is a touching movie about people, heart, and responsibility. I liked it. *** out of ****