A clever combination

Rating: 10/10 (17 March 2009)

I came out thinking Victor Meldrew meets Dirty Harry in The Shootist, but that's an unfair thought - an attempt to make something glib out of a film which definitely isn't glib.
I was greatly surprised at how funny the movie is - the trailer had showed one or two of the snappy one-liners, but gave no idea of how laugh out loud funny much of the first two-thirds of this movie is. A lot of the humour derives from the outright curmudgeonliness and unashamed racism of Walt Kowalski, but far from all of it.
And Kowalski isn't simply a two dimensional redneck throwback. He's a real person - unlikeable certainly, unapologetic about his prejudices definitely, and still carrying the mental scars of his part in the Korean War 50 years earlier. But he has a strong sense of right and wrong (in broad strokes), an affinity for those who relate to him in the same strong (manly, if you will) terms with which he journeys through life and, above all, a preparedness to transcend his prejudices and judge individuals on their merits.
The humour which runs through the early part of the movie sits very easily with the strong drama which takes the story through to its conclusion - the two are complementary, not contradictory.
I think this is one of Eastwood's very best movies and I enjoyed it a great deal.