Review of Gran Torino (2008) by Mike W — 02 Sep 2013

Eastwood is still giving life to stories about the Greatest Generation. Having a father in his mid-nineties that refuses to lay down in a nursing home bed and wait to die, I can identify with Eastwood's character and his advocacy for the older generation of our society.

These are the ones who took care of things they had and made saving money a habit rather than running up debt. He had received derisive criticism from the media for his monologue at the Republican National convention as a senile old codger talking to a chair but Obama wouldn't have the guts to breathe in the presence of Mr.

Eastwood or anyone of his caliber let alone debate him. Back to the film. I would have liked to see more interplay and development from Walt's children than the typical kids "waiting for Dad to die so they can get the inheritance" that has been played as a trope on a number of comedies and murder mysteries.

It felt necessary to further move the relationship closer to the Hmong family as Walt seemed an unwanted figurehead and patriarch of his own blood relations. The villain here is not the racist American culture or white skinhead thugs but members of the Hmong immigrants that have adopted the hip-hop gangsta drug/crime lifestyle of so many inner-city youth with no ambition to excellence but to live for cheap thrills of harassing the weak and helpless of their own kind.

Interesting juxtaposition where the antagonists of both protagonist in this film come from their own family/tribe. The climax with the shootout proves that Mr. Eastwood even in his advanced years still has it.

Knowing the final showdown and justice needing to be served will necessitate his ultimate sacrifice without him firing a shot does not lessen the poignancy of this scene. It is a callback to his earlier day in cinema where he epitomized the iconic Man-with-no-Name anti-hero and the gunfight at the end where it's all made right.

The usual Eastwood produced and directed film. Great to watch with family. There is some language however.