Movie Review: Gran Torino

By Mark Arehart

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Clint Eastwood has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards for a reason: The man makes damn good movies. Gran Torino is no exception.

Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, a bitter and racist old man who is recently widowed. The story is centered on his relationship with the sullen Thao, played by Bee Vang, a kid plagued by pressures to join his neighborhood gang. Walt takes it upon himself to teach Thao about tools, life and his baby, a 1973 Ford Gran Torino.

Walt talks like your average geriatric, pissed off at the world for changing and hating any car not made in America. The racial slurs roll off his tongue like an everyday hello. But he is revealed to be an honest and decent man, who more than knows his way around a firearm.

Eastwood plays a character reminiscent of the past with his fists flying before any questions can be uttered. His performance is the best so far this year, and might just hold that title for months to come.

Sharing the name of an old muscle car, Gran Torino is a film that beautifully covers a host of emotions. Could you expect anything less from someone as dedicated as Eastwood? He not only starred in and directed the film, he even sings the title song.

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