Million Dollar Gent

Rating: 8/10 (26 December 2008)

Though a huge fan of film, I didn't grow up loving or even seeing a Clint Eastwood feature until 'Unforgiven.' I was an instant admirer of his work. Since then, he's rarely let me down, and catching up on Dirty Harry, I saw what I was missing. However, that being said, he surely has gotten better with age, and with every movie. Take 'Million Dollar Baby,' a near masterpiece. 'Gran Torino' is definitely short of that, but still a wonderful, actually suspenseful at times and often hilarious film, with a fantastic performance by Eastwood, but unfortunately, unlike 'Baby,' everyone else seems wooden. This might be due to the fact 'Torino' was being made during breaks from his other film 'Changeling.' Either way, Eastwood stands out again and it was wonderful seeing someone completely un-PC (God, I'm sick of PC) even if it's just a fictional character. So anyone easily offended by language and bigotry (the latter I'm very much familiar with), you have fair warning this contains its full share. But, for those with open minds/hearts: 'Torino' is a definite must see even if it's not a completely original story about a gruff older gent that (no real spoiler here) changes his ways. I think they set out to make a small film, but I can see this little film lasting generations.