Genre: Drama
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, Christopher Carley
Time: 116 minutes (plus trailers)
Clint Eastwood directs, produces and stars in Gran Torino, the latest in the series of dramatic Oscar contenders to be released in the past few weeks. Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) is a racist old Korean War veteran who inadvertently becomes the hero of his predominately Hmong Chinese neighbourhood when he stands up to a local gang. Walt wants nothing more than to be left alone, but with the help of his neighbour Sue, Walt slowly begins to overcome his prejudiced ways. After Sue’s younger brother Thao tries to steal Walt’s 1972 Ford Gran Torino as part of his gang initiation, Walt becomes determined to set Thao on the straight and narrow path, and in doing so he forms a close friendship with the boy which becomes the films main driving force (pun intended). When the gang returns to terrorise the community, Walt takes matters into his own hands with devastating results.
Eastwood is the only star in Gran Torino; in fact, he is one of the only professional actors, as most of the Hmong cast including the two leads have never acted before. They are both quite good, although Bee Vang as Thao does falter a little bit during the more emotional moments of the film. Of course, it is Eastwoods performance that really carries this film. It is good to see that even at the ripe of age of 78 he can still channel Dirty Harry when he need to, and when he is facing down the gangsters you will believe that he is not a man to be messed with (how many people can make “get of my lawn” sound threatening, even when they are holding a shotgun?) There is also a lot of humour to be found in the film, most of which comes from his characters stereotypically elderly mannerisms. Walt doesn’t approve of the way his grandchildren dress, complains about kids these days and refers to his Asian neighbours as gooks and zipper heads even after he’s befriended them. There are a lot of laughs at his expense, but Eastwood plays it straight faced and resists hamming it up too much. When the film takes a very dark turn in the final act, his talents are put on full display, and ultimately I think this may be remembered as one of his best performances (which is sort of funny, given that he spends at least half the movie either growling or talking to himself.)
The script of this film, written by newcomer Nick Schenk, is generally written, but suffers from some overarching problems that damage the film as a whole. The dialogue was generally good; the banter between Walt and Sue, or Walt and Thao, or even between Walt and his barber all felt very natural. Often in movies people speak too articulately to believe, but in Gran Torino the exchanges between characters don’t seem at all scripted. Nick Schenk is definitely better at writing dialogue that crafting story, as is made clear by certain scenes - such as when Walt is ‘read’ by a Hmong priest - that feel very ham-fisted. The movies second act, in which Walt and Thao bond, drags on way too long, and the ending was painfully standard. It is well reported that Eastwood agreed to get involved in the project on the condition that the studio not change anything, and while it is good to see a director with that much passion for a script, I think it could have done with some trimming. That being said, the entire idea that Walt could overcome forty years of racial hatred so quickly was not convincing, so perhaps the problem lies with the movies very premise.
Eastwood should certainly be commended for Gran Torino. His direction is sure and steady handed without drawing attention to itself. His acting is great, and the choice to hire non-actors in the supporting roles was a good one; the genuine quality it brings to the movie more than makes up for the occasional acting misstep. I really enjoyed the first hour of this film, but it did start to wear on me after a while. If you’re not a big movie person, then there are better dramatic options available at the moment such as Doubt or Slumdog Millionaire (I will not rest until every person I know has seen the latter) but by no means am I telling you to stay away from Gran Torino. If you don’t see it in theatres, then definitely check it out on DVD.
P.S. The song written for the movie that plays over the end credits is absolutely dreadful.
Gran Torino will be released in cinemas in Australia on January 22nd
