Gotta love Clint Eastwood

Rating: 10/10 (13 December 2014)

Everyone knows a man like Walt Kowalski. He acts like that grumpy old war veteran that seems to live in every neighborhood. He has reason to be grumpy though. Walt has recently been widowed, he doesn't get along with his family, he is till troubled from what he experienced during the Korean War, and the world has completely changed around him.
Walt's neighborhood was once a working class suburb of Detroit, but recently it has become ran down, consumed by gangs, and all of his neighbors are immigrants from Vietnam. So when Thao, a boy that lives next door, tries to steal Walt's mint condition 1972 Ford Gran Torino as his gang initiation it was the last straw. The next morning after Thao's family has learned what he has done they make him go to Walt and explain himself. So to get even with Walt, Thao starts to work for the old man and they become great friends. Walt does everything for this young boy. He helps Thao get a job, teaches him to act like a man, and he ends up protecting Thao's family from the local gang that made Thao try to steal the Gran Torino.
The character Walt Kowalski, played by Clint Eastwood, is one of my favorite movie characters of all time. The amount of drama he puts into each scence is absolutely unreal. One scence may be absolutely hilarious, one may have edge of your seat action, and then the next may have you sobbing in tears. Clint Eastwood makes the character so realistic and believable. In one scene he tells a gang member, "I'll blow a hole in your face then go inside and sleep like a baby." After he says this you truly believe that he is going to do it. I believe this is one of Eastwood's greatest performances, it definitely compares to the "go ahead make my day" role of Dirty Harry.
There is one thing I did not enjoy about this film though, the acting of one character. Thao's sister Sue, played by Ahney Her, was the definition of bad acting. Throughout the movie you can just tell she was trying so hard to play this role, like it didn't come natural to her whatsoever. During one scene Sue goes over to Walt's home to invite him over for a cookout. During this scene you can tell she is struggling by the way she walks, talks, etc.
Clint Eastwood was also the director of this movie, and did he do a fantastic job. Every scene was perfectly placed, mainly because of the setting of the movie was perfect. The props were appropriate for the movie. The best prop they found had to be Walt's 72 Gran Torino. It was realistic because that was the car the working-man would've bought brand new back then and kept perfect for all these years. This movie will always count as one of my favorites. Clint Eastwood's performance in any movie will always be fantastic, but the role of Walt will always be one of his best. Trust me on this, if you want a movie that will hit every emotion for you, this is the one. It'll make your head hurt from laughter at the beginning and then tear your heart out at the end.