Cast: Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, Ahney Her; Director: Clint Eastwood; Producers: Clint Eastwood, Bill Gerber, Robert Lorenz; Screenwriters: Nick Schenk, Dave Johansson (story); Music: Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens; Editor: Joel Cox, Gary Roach; Genre: Drama; Cinematography: Tom Stern; Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures; Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA; Running Time: 116min;Technical Assessment: 4
Moral Assessment: 4
CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and above
Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) is a retired auto worker and Korean War veteran for whom the word cantankerous must have been invented. He is grumpy, irritable, tetchy, resentful, cranky and all their synonyms. He seems to hate everything and everyone, pointing his gun at anybody who as much as walks on his lawn. Even his grown sons keep their distance, suggesting their father move to a geriatric facility to stay out of trouble. Walt doesn’t seem to see anything pleasing in life, much less in his Detroit neighborhood that has been invaded by what he calls “chinks”. The “chinks” are actually Laotian Hmongs who prove to be very pleasant and civilized neighbors when Walter saves their son Thao (Bee Vang) from a teenage gang pressuring him to join their marauding pursuits. The fact that Walt had earlier on caught Thao trying to steal his prized, gleaming Ford, a Gran Torino, doesn’t matter—hating evil and doing good simply comes naturally for him while remaining his crusty old self. But Walt’s crusty old heart soon gives way, albeit gradually and grudgingly, to the neighborly gestures of the Hmongs who have made a virtual hero out of him—especially when Walt again saves Thao’s older sister Soo (Ahney Her) from the same gang harassing her brother. They would pamper him with food and flower offerings at his doorsteps, persevering even if at the start Walt merely trashes everything right before their eyes. Thao’s mother, to atone for the boy’s attempted car theft, offers his services gratis to Walt who reluctantly agrees upon Soo’s prodding. Much of the change in Walt is in fact caused by the smart and self-confident Soo who sees Walt’s goodness beneath his tough exterior. Tension mounts when the marauding gang persists in their pesky maneuvers which Walt will simply not tolerate.
Gran Torino owes its appeal to a tall but engrossing tale—story by David Johannson and script by Nick Schenk—given life and a measure of probability by flawless character development. Directing the movie himself, Eastwood in Gran Torino is vintage Eastwood playing an octogenarian Dirty Harry, displaying great chemistry between hero and supporting cast. As any Asian immigrant in the United States can tell you, the interaction between Eastwood’s character and the Laotian Hmongs, particularly during the birthday party, could be a veritable episode straight out of reality tv. Ahney Her’s performance is sparkling as the sassy sister of the timid Thao; given the right roles she could become another bright star from Asia.
Gran Torino is a story of cultural tolerance and the triumph of the goodness in the human heart over the vicissitudes of life. Walt Kowalski is not a mean soul although he appears to be one. He is a war survivor, wounded by violence and traumatized by conflict; his tough exterior is nothing more than layer after layer of scars inflicted by years in combat. Trusting only his guns and self-preservation instincts, he almost forgets he is human underneath it all, until a young innocent soul unwittingly penetrates his defenses and coaxes out the best in him.
