(Long Island, N.Y.) Ah, getting older- it’s no fun. Friends and loved ones pass on, your annoying kids try to ship you off to the old folks home, and the neighborhood you built a life in is slowly changed foreign cultures. At least, that’s what getting older means in Clint Eastwood’s latest film, Gran Torino, a film he not only stars in, but directs as well. It’s a tale of anger, stubbornness, and change, and it’s one of the better films I’ve seen recently.
Honestly, the level of enjoyment I received from Gran Torino comes solely from Clint Eastwood’s character, the role I am now sure he was born to play. Sure, the talented actor/director has portrayed many iconic characters throughout the course of his amazing career, but as he’s gracefully grown older, I now realize that he was merely warming up all that time to play the ultimate grumpy old man- Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski. Walt barely speaks to his adult children or his neighbors, drinks and smokes constantly, loves only his old army guns and his car, and swaps racist jokes with his lodge buddies and the local barber. Quite a colorful guy, eh?
The recently-widowed Walt lives in a suburb of Michigan and the film opens with the funeral of his beloved wife. Walt stands next to her casket, scowling as his disrespectful grandchildren show up for the solemn event wearing belly shirts and texting with their Blackberries non-stop through Father Janovich’s (Christopher Carley) eulogy. Back at home Walt has plenty of other things to scowl at, as his neighborhood has become dominated in recent years by immigrants, particularly those of Hmong descent (for those of you wondering, Hmong is an Asian ethnic group).
Walt’s intolerance to other cultures (especially acute when it comes to Asians since he spent plenty of time killing them in Korea) has left him an outcast among his neighbors, and his mistrust is only amplified when he catches young Thao from the house next door trying to steal his beloved 1972 Gran Torino. It seems that the teen was ordered to do the deed by his gangbanger cousin (nicknamed “Spider”) as an initiation rite to their gang, although Thao truly has no desire to be a lawbreaker. When Spider and his gang return and attempt to force Thao to again steal the Gran Torino, a fight ensues which spills over onto Walt’s front yard. The next thing they see is Walt holding his M-1 army rifle at them, demanding menacingly that they get off his lawn.
Now, Walt only did this because he’s a crotchety old man who wants to be left alone. But unfortunately for him, his Hmong neighbors mistake this as an act of heroism and shower him with gifts, attempting to bridge the gap between them. Walt resists at first, but when Thao’s family insist that the young man replay his debt and regain the honor he lost when he tried to steal the Gran Torino by indentured servitude to Walt, the two eventually break the ice, get to know each other and form a bond. Walt eventually starts accepting and even socializing with his Hmong neighbors, but their new-found friendship is threatened by the return of Spider and his gang, who see no distinction between family and enemy gangbangers on the street. Will Walt turn the other way, or will he stand by his new-found friends and help?
Walt Kowalski is one of Clint Eastwood’s most memorable characters- right up there with Dirty Harry and The Man With No Name. Walt is angry, ill-mannered, and bigoted- a true beacon of light in the fog of overt political correctness that permeates our modern culture. Every other word out of his mouth is an offensive ethnic slur against Asians, Blacks, Italians, etc, and the audience in my movie theater gleefully welcomed every such utterance with thunderous laughter. Not because of any racist inclinations, I’m assuming- I think it’s merely refreshing in our homogenized age to watch someone blatantly cross the line that so few dare to anymore. Walt is an old lion, set in his ways, and resistant to change of any kind. His attitude toward other cultures is born more out of ignorance than outright malice, and he finally learns how to grow, adapt, and tear down the walls of bigotry throughout the course of Gran Torino. Thankfully, however, doesn’t completely lose his edge- he’s still a jerk when all is said and done.
By the way, I must say that Eastwood is in phenomenal shape for a 78 year-old man. Sure, his face has weathered the ravages of time a bit, but it’s actually made him somewhat fascinating to look at nowadays. It’s Clint, only he now looks like he’s been roughly chiseled out of solid granite. It’s frightening. And I’m not ashamed to admit that I believe he could probably beat me up with little effort, even at his advanced age. I mean, it’s Clint Eastwood.
Oh yeah, there were some other actors in this film, weren’t there? The sad fact of the matter is that, if not for the presence of Clint, the movie wouldn’t nearly be the joy that it was. The leading cast is made up almost entirely of inexperienced Hmong actors, which director Eastwood held an open casting call for to ensure the film’s authenticity. While everyone involved turns out acceptable performances, they all pale to Clint’s Archie Bunker with a gun, which is so over-the-top that he simply can not be matched by some nobody who was probably doing dinner theater the week before.
Honestly, I could talk about the plot (which is threadbare), the locations (which are gritty and authentic), the pacing (which is brisk), the underlying messages about racism, ignorance, aging and dealing with change (there’s some nice character development going on, yes), BUT…none of that matters in this case. The fact remains that it’s pretty much Clint Eastwood alone that makes Gran Torino so totally engaging. While most actors in Hollywood do their best to ward off aging and avoid looking “old” by refusing to accept certain roles that paint them as such, Clint has embraced his age, and seeing such humility (and humanity) is oddly refreshing. Of course, Clint does this while sitting in the director’s chair as well, so he rightfully deserves double the kudos. I highly recommend Gran Torino- go check it out.
