Harry couldn't be dirtier. Review on Gran Torino Movie

There’s only one way to describe it. Powerful.The film opens at the scene of a funeral and we meet Walt Kowalski, played by Clint Eastwood – a dour veteran, growling in anger through his days. He seems to be annoyed by everything.

His sons and their families, who represent today’s consumerist and instant gratification world. By his Asian neighbors who are transforming a once all-American neighborhood. By the enthusiastic young priest who is relentless in trying to persuade Kowalski to come to confession. Frame after frame is filled with Eastwood’s grimacing, much-creased, much weathered face and you begin to wonder if anything can make this man smile.

On the surface, Gran Torino is a film about racism and about a man’s journey to overcome it. But the film is really so much more. Kowalski’s character is leisurely drawn out, revealing peel by peel nuances, layers, depth. Kowalski is a bitter veteran who finds himself at odds with the changing America around him. The portrait is of a man who has worked hard all his life, does so even now, meticulously cleaning and mowing and fixing.

He’s a true-blue patriot who takes great pride in all things American. And as a retired assembly-line worker, you catch him smirking at his son’s choice of a foreign-made car. The influx of Hmong immigrants in his Detroit neighborhood only adds to that bitter crust. He seems a bigot, a racist, growling out a menacing “get off my lawn” at passers-by. And yet you ask, could it be that what really annoys him about his Asian neighbor is that they haven’t mowed their lawn?!

Meanwhile, his mild young neighbor, Thao, is waging a battle of his own, trying to stay clear of harassment from his cousin’s gang. Thao is coerced into an initiation ritual – the stealing of Kowalski’s Gran Torino. Thao is stopped by Kowalski and pressured into repenting by his family by doing odd errands for Kowalski. As Thao turns up each day, you see Kowalski melting, even managing a joke and a grin. He takes Thao under his wing, helping him find work and even a girlfriend. The gang continues harassing Thao, prompting intervention from Kowalski, leading to the final climactic confrontation.

The film tells a riveting tale with lots of great moments – some thought-provoking, some comic and some just plain touching. The Gran Torino is brilliant casting, the perfect foil to Walt Kowalski - both symbols of a time and America past. Clint Eastwood is quite simply, spectacular. A definite must-see.