Eye Candy #67 - "Gran Torino"

Gran Torino: Clint Eastwood’s most recent directorial effort, it’s a bit of a departure from most of his other recent work, which has tended to fall into the thriller-y vein (True Crime, In the Line of Fire) or fairly straightforward drama (Million Dollar Baby, The Changeling). “Gran Torino” doesn’t feel like any of those movies. Eastwood is Walt Kowalski, Korean War vet, former auto worker, recent widower, and racist. He is the last White bastion in his old neighborhood that has been taken over by Hmong immigrants. He would like nothing better than to be left alone, but after one of them attempts to steal his vintage, immaculate Gran Torino, he finds himself being drawn into the lives of the neighbors he so dislikes, forming a bond with a young man named Thao that is closer than any relationship with any of his own family. He becomes a father figure to Thao, a protector to other member’s of the community, and finds a reason to keep on living. That sets him a collision path with some of the less savory elements of neighborhood, including a Hmong gang that has an interest in either having Thao join or punishing him for not doing so. The story seems very much like “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, with Cindy Lou and the Whos being replaced by the Hmong, and echoes most other films that have an older man take a younger man under his wing. Part drama, part black comedy, with just a smidgin of thriller thrown in, it does defy your expectations (I assume that most, like me, want to see Eastwood go all “Dirty Harry” at a certain point in the movie, but the film wisely avoids that). Not all the Hmong are the strongest actors, but seeing as most of them are complete novices, it’s not hard to understand why. Not Eastwood’s best (that‘s still a tie between Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby), but watchable. And be warned - this is the least politically correct movie of the decade. Slurs abound. It’s a solid 3 ½ stars. Woodchuck sez, “Worth a look.”