A rock solid story about prejudice in modern America well told

Rating: 9/10 (17 July 2013)

Gran Torino is about a prejudiced old man stuck in all his ways who makes unlikely friends with his Asian neighbours, two teenage kids. When the kids are threatened by an Asian gang, the old man protects them in the only way he knows how, with a rifle he used in the war. Violence leads to more violence and in the end he sacrifices his own life to give his friends a chance at a normal life.
Gran Torino is a fantastic story well told. It employs all three types of plots: an external journey to save the kids, a relationship development of the friendship between the old man and the Asian kids, and an internal arc of the old man overcoming his prejudices. In the end, the old man does what would have been unthinkable for him at the beginning of the film: sacrifice his own life for his gooky neighbours.
The themes of prejudice is echoed well in the supporting action in the film: Walt's ridicule of the good intentioned priest, the rejection of his own family and his war-bred nature to pull out a gun at the slightest possibility of provocation.
My only beef of the film is that while it gives a strong platform for an ensemble of Asian actors, they are portrayed as fairly flat and undeveloped and some of their arcs are sacrificed for comedic relief. A check on IMDb reveals that the male Asian lead (Tao) has not had any other parts since this 2008 classic. That would be unthinkable for any other actor who played opposite the great Clint Eastwood. Alas, thank you Mr Eastwood for doing this much for the underrepresented nonetheless.