The Irony of Being Judgmental

Rating: 8/10 (28 July 2009)

Clint Eastwood's 2008 film "Gran Torino" is a movie that shows the transition of old tradition into modern society and its problems. Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) is a retired Korean War vet who is bitter, even to his own family. Day after day Walt sits on his porch, yelling racial slurs at his Asian neighbors. Walt develops an accidental friendship with one of the neighbors. He was the young teenage Hmong boy who tried to steal his car. Thao (Bee Vang) was sent by his cousin to steal Walt's car, so that Thao would be accepted by them.
Thao repays Walt back for his mistakes by doing chores. During this time, they slowly develop a friendship and Walt becomes more open with the young boy. Meantime, Walt is having problems with a severe cough that usually results in a handkerchief of blood which he tries to conceal.
One day Sue, Thao's sister, was attacked by their cousin. She was brutally beat and this sets Walt over the edge. During the time that Thao was doing chores, they developed a friendship for one another. Walt set out that night, after locking Thao in his basement, looking for the Asian Gangbangers. He finds them at their house and he yells at them from the outside. The Hmong gangsters open their windows with guns pointed. Walt reaches into his pocket and the gangsters shoot him. Walt falls to the ground with a lighter in hand; ready to spark up another cigarette. Thao now became the owner of Walt's Gran Torino.
What I found ironic was that in the beginning of the movie Walt was always cursing at them to get off his lawn and yelling racial slurs, and in the end Walt gave his life to send the shooters, the Hmong gangsters, to prison for a long time. This movie showed that strangers may be closer than actual family in the end.