"Gran Torino" Critique

Rating: 7/10 (15 April 2012)

If you enjoy action, drama, and gangs, "Gran Torino" is a movie you'll like. "Gran Torino" is an action but mostly dramatic film. It deals with characters that grow close to each other, and relationships that symbolize the tolerance between people of different age and race. The movie includes a fight between the "good" and "bad"; but this fight is not only between characters, but decisions as well. Even though it includes the typical idea that doing the right thing will always bring you good consequences, the good guys are not the typical guys you would expect because one is tough and rude, and the other one tries to steal; but what counts are the real morals they carry inside. If you are looking for a violent movie with constant action, where the violence that occurs does not affect you emotionally, then don't watch this movie.
The movie is about a man named Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) who's a Korean War veteran. He is a grumpy, bitter, tough, old widower, whose greatest possession is a 1970s Gran Torino. The story takes place in a neighborhood in Highland Park, Michigan. At the beginning of it, Walt's neighbor, Thao (Bee Vang), tries to steal the car in order to be part of his cousin's (Doua Moua) gang. Nevertheless, Kowalski saves Thao one night from getting into trouble with the gang, but with no real emotional motivation. Kowalski becomes the hero of the neighborhood, and Thao, who is a Hmong, is forced by his family to work for him as a sign of regret and forgiveness. After several weeks, Walt becomes very close to Thao and his family, finding himself forced to protect them; including his sister Sue (Anhey Her). Throughout the movie, Father Janovich (Christopher Carley) is frequently visiting Walt; and the visits provide interactions and conversations relevant to the portrayal of Kowalski's emotions and personality.
Clint Eastwood who played Walt Kowalski's role did a great job. He portrayed his character in a very realistic and strong way. With his tough character, he was able to evoke feelings on the audience. On the other hand, Bee Vang's and Ahney Her's acting was very poor. They were not able to strongly portray their character and seem real. Their acting was fake and unsatisfying. Ellen Chenoweth, the casting director, and Eastwood, as a director, did an awful job choosing the actors.
There were a few things I liked about the movie. First, the images and the cinematography were fascinating because of the different camera angles and movements; you could tell they were well planned to make this technical feature support the mood of the story. Tom Stern, the director of photography, and the editors Joel Cox and Gary Roach, surely did an excellent job. Second, the end of the movie was unexpected and added a whole new different feeling to it. Third, what I found most interesting was how there were lots of stories left unfinished and ready for the audience's interpretation. Many details remain unknown and the movie motivates us to infer. For example, we never know why Walt's always having to throw up blood, and we only know a few details from his past. This opens up the possibility that he might have been a terrible man who killed many, but we still feel compassion towards him. Even though I liked these aspects, in such a strong movie, good acting is vital. As I said before, Her's and Vang's acting was terrible; therefore, a lot of emotions were lost. How is the audience supposed to connect with these characters if they seem so fake and so unnatural? Moreover, there was suspense but nothing interesting really happened, except in the end. I felt no real, intense conflict; no sense or point in the plot. In other words, I did not feel the movie. The lack of experience of the actors and the slowness of the story brought the work down; it was certainly saved by the ending.
Nevertheless, the movie included several interesting topics and themes. I learnt about the importance of solidarity and tolerance, and the respect elders deserve and how they should not be underestimated. Also, being interested in the wrong sense of the word, is never beneficial; but doing the right thing is.
I would probably recommend this movie to young adults. Maybe adults would also like it, but I don't think they would be that interested. The movie is rated R, probably because of the language used, and the violence we don't actually see, but know that happens. I feel it was a good, respectable movie, but not an extraordinary, amazing one. The movie was well done; the images, the camera movements, the dialogue, and the story were all good, but the mediocre acting on behalf of the apparently neophyte actors, affected the movie terribly. Maybe it was even that acting that caused the movie to be uninteresting and not to catch my full emotional affection towards the whole situation. In other words, maybe I did not find it character driven as it was supposed to be.