Top 10 Things Wrong with Gran Torino

Rating: 2/10 (1 August 2009)

1. Contrary to Walt's simple-minded claim, blue-collar men are capable of the occasional sentence that doesn't use words like dick, ofay, guinea, and spook. Peppering dialog with racist insults wasn't insightful when Archie Bunker did it in the 1970s, and it isn't now.
2. The hero is contrived. Over the course of one summer, Eastwood's Walt builds affection and the utmost loyalty toward the "gooks" next door, but he couldn't do the same with his own sons over decades? He's alternately soft- or hard-hearted depending on the needs of the plot.
3. A few of the Hmongs have distinct characters, but Walt's family are little more than clichés-- resentful sons, greedy daughter-in-law, shallow granddaughter. His children are a disappointment to him and his ego, and he treats them as such. No wonder his sons are resentful.
4. Further to that, the sons are presented negatively, as opportunists, but the only time Walt calls one of them is when he's in difficulty (and even then he doesn't have the courage to actually speak up), so is he really any better?
5. The inexplicable stalking of mild-mannered Thao by his cousin's Hmong gang, in spite of the fact that "all Hmong boys go to jail"—so clearly there's no shortage of recruits. Presumably it's out of family loyalty? I don't think so, because...
6. When the gang retaliates against Walt for having kicked the crap out of one of them, they open fire — on their own cousins' house instead of Walt's next door!
7. The ending is entirely predictable, even before Walt starts getting all shaven and shorn for his coffin.
8. Using the dog as a device to steal audience affection for Walt rather than making him someone genuinely likable and worthy of respect.
9 etc. Bad lighting, sluggish direction, and, worst of all, transparent plot manipulation to keep the police out of the picture until the final scenes. (Okay, I know that's more than 10, but it could easily have been a Top 20.)