"Gran Torino" Eastwood's Best Effort Since "Unforgiven"

Rating: 8/10 (11 January 2009)

Without seeing "Gran Torino" another time or two, it will be hard to judge just how good it really is. The movie certainly engages the viewer and tugs at his or her emotions without becoming maudlin or sappy, making it difficult to maintain a dispassionate and objective perspective as to its quality. Despite Walt's excessive boozing, continued smoking, and free use of racial stereotypes and epitaphs, the fact that he has a good heart in there somewhere is immediately evident, if difficult to discern. It takes a spirited young Hmong girl, one of his neighbors, to see right past his carefully erected defenses, and her brother, who is teetering on the brink of going bad, to give him a renewed sense of purpose following the death of his wife. One spot in the film came off a little weak, that being the scene at the barbershop where Walt was attempting to "man up" Tao by encouraging him to relate to others in the same way he does. Further, I think the crusty old Korean War vet came around to getting along with his neighbors just a might too quickly, considering the degree of contempt in which he'd held them before the initial incident that brought them closer. Could he really go over to the party at Sue's invitation and then settle into place rather easily what with all the suspicious and disapproving stares from the other guests? One would think he would just stalk off in disgust. Perhaps time constraints disallowed a more gradual lessening of suspicion and hostility. Finally, I suspect Walt shouldn't have had to defend the good Hmong from the Hmong gang. After all, they are not babies but obviously are a tough people and should have taken care of those punks in their own quiet way. These minor criticisms aside, I found the movie quite moving and Walt to be easily one of Eastwood's best characterizations. He deserves an Academy Award nomination for the role and probably the Oscar, itself. The young Hmong girl, Sue, also deserves recognition. We didn't fully realize her importance until the end of the movie. Her strong spirit is every bit as inspiring as Walt's.