Magnum Bunker

Rating: 9/10 (7 January 2009)

I recently saw this during its opening weekend in the Phoenix area. Clint Eastwood directs himself in this urban story of a retired automotive factory worker in Detroit who's wife has recently died and is left alone with his dog in a crumbling former blue collar neighborhood that has been inhabited by Hmong immigrants. An ambitious year for Eastwood as a director with this film coming at the heels of his critically acclaimed "Changeling" he goes in front of the camera to deliver yet another classic Eastwood character. At age 78 he plays a crusty bigot who is at odds with his grown sons and their families and the modern world in general. Filled with great lines from a story by Dave Johannson and screenplay by Nick Schenk it's got to be the wittiest drama ever. I hope it's not Eastwood's swangsong as an actor and we see more of him on screen. A great film. a classic and I would give it a 9.5 out of 10.