Mar 15, 2009 11:13 AM
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(Updated Mar 15, 2009 11:17 AM)
Clint Eastwood is a legend, better known for his happy yet gruesome endings(remember the Dirty Harry series?), where the lead actor takes some dangerous steps to bring justice or peace, however, every piece of this legend's movies have a different flavour to it, and so does Gran Torino, in a way only Eastwood could bring in!
Plot-
Walt Kowalski(Eastwood) is an autoworker and a korean war veteran now retired, and lives in a michigan neighbourhood where an irritating Hmong (a chinese ethnic group) family has just moved in next door! When the teenager from the family Thong, tries to steal Walt's most prized possession, his 1972 Gran Torino, forced by his ill-minded cousin, and is caught red-handed by Walt, things turn worse, and Walt has to set things right. In his attempt at setting things right and reforming Thao, Walt has to take some extreme measures! How Walt the grumpy old War veteran who hated his noisy neighbours ends up becoming a symbol of hope for the Hmongs, and earns a redemption of his ill deeds is the story all about!
Performances and Credits -
East or West Eastwood is the best, whether it comes to acting, or direction, one cannot measure the amount of sincerity and elegance Clint brings onto the screen! This one seemed no exception, and is a very vintage kind of experience, you could see a glimpse of the old westerns in this as well! I particularly liked the ending, one might as well think this would end up like many a westerns with Clint singlehandedly sweeping past an army of armed gun-mens, guys, prepare to be amazed!
Performances by Eastwood, the teenager Bee Vang as Thao, Ahney Her as Sue (Thao's sister), the ever so calm yet persistent Father played by Christopher Carley, all gave powerful sets of performances! You would find traces of Eastwood's specialities a lot in this one too, the scary old grin, the cow-boyish style of scaring the hell out of its enemies, the scene where Eastwood confronts the Hmong cousin's gang in his own neighbourhood is just irresistable!
Scenes and Dialogues -
Watch out for those uncanny one-liners of Eastwood, here's a taste of it
To father - "I think you're an overeducated 27-year-old virgin who likes to hold the hands of superstitious old ladies and promise them everlasting life."
To the gang - "Yea? I blow a hol* in your face and then I go in the house... and I sleep like a baby. You can count on that. We used to stack like you five feet high in Korea... use you for sandbags."
Scenes to look out for -
1) The one where Walt Shows Thao, how to be a man, in the baber shop!
2) The speech given by Father in the funeral.
3) The scene where Father tries to make Walt to have a confession.
4) The scene where Walt tries to make Thao talk to a girl in the party.
5) The ending scene with the old-school Eastwood signature all over it! :)
Final Verdict -
This one is no Oscar winner material, not something you go for a weekend get-together with your girlfriend, die-hard fans of classic thriller and drama, fans of Eastwood, and people who love to be at the edge of your seat, go for it! Never boring, never too melodramatic, never lets you down, a must-see for authentic movie goers! A bit of violence and abusive language makes it an A rated movie, so take a little care!
Rating - 4 stars for me, loved every bit of it.
Eastwood has amazed me everytime he comes up with a movie, be it in any genre, Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven, In the line of fire, or the epic westerns of his times, or the Dirty Harry series, Eastwood comes up everytime with an ardent set of charactersitics in his movies, which compel us just to admire this man, for his abilities time and again! Watch this one for the sheer joy of the "Eastwood - FeelGood experience"!
Comments and views always welcome!
Cheers!
