Gran Torino (2008)

United States of America, Germany

Drama

Matten Productions, Double Nickel Entertainment, Gerber Pictures, Malpaso Productions, Village Roadshow Pictures, WV Films IV, Warner Bros. Pictures

Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, Brian Haley, Geraldine Hughes

Clint Eastwood

Nick Schenk, Nick Schenk, Dave Johannson

Taglines: Ever come across somebody you shouldn't have f#cked with?

rape, war veteran, gangster, immigration, old man, priest, gang, detroit, michigan, widower, hmong

Disgruntled Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski sets out to reform his neighbor, Thao Lor, a Hmong teenager who tried to steal Kowalski's prized possession: a 1972 Gran Torino.

Reviews:

Author: r96sk
There's a lot to unpack about 'Gran Torino', probably way more than I could offer an opinion on. I fully acknowledge the talk about this film's potential impact on the world, namely for Hmong Americans (see: Bee Vang's op-ed), and I'm not saying it's perfect one bit. I admittedly do have a difficult time separating film and real life, to me films are just fictional things but I get they can/do have real world implications. Strictly as a film, it is entertaining. Clint Eastwood is remarkably good at being a super racist and super grumpy old man, who literally hates every single person he encounters across the opening portion of the film. His character's lines in this are nuts and his delivery with them is incredible - the look of utter disgust on Walt Kowalski's face when someone pisses him off in a new way is just amusing to watch. If not for his on point delivery, it wouldn't have worked. Eastwood is the only actor in this worth talking about on a grander level, though I could've done without his ropey singing at the end, but I did enjoy the showings of the earlier mentioned Vang, Ahney Her and John Carroll Lynch - not that the latter does much, I just like the guy as an actor... all stems from 'The Walking Dead', he's in literally one episode back in 2015 and yet I always remember his character. I'm not sold on the ending, Walt isn't exactly redeemed and it does reek of white saviour let's be real, but it didn't affect my enjoyment in film terms to be honest.