Race to see this! (Gran Torino (DVD))

Member Name: mummy2harry

Product:	Gran Torino (DVD)
Date:	21/09/09 (74 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Compelling, Eastwood as both an actor and director is great

Disadvantages: Not many

Walt Kowalski is a disgruntled Korean War veteran, and everybody around him knows it. He isn't particularly close with his 2 sons and their families, can't stand the young priest who insists on keeping an eye on him, and is completely and utterly rude to the Korean family who live next door to him. But when the Hmong family are targeted by some thugs and bullied, Kowalski decides its time to stick up for the youngsters and also stop them from stealing his most prized possession - his 1972 Gran Torino. Will Walt be able to befriend the young Korean's, and more importantly will they be willing to accept the help of an elderly rude and racist American?

This is a film both my fiance and I have been wanting to see for a long time so we were both very keen to watch it when we got a copy from the library last week. I wasn't too sure how much I was going to like it as I don't feel comfortable watching things where racist terms are bandied about freely, but I was willing to give it a go and hope that it wasn't going to be too strong or racist in its language. It's directed by the great Clint Eastwood who also directed the great Million Dollar Baby, and the fact he stars in it is even better.

The film begins with showing Walt is a very bad light, and this pretty much the way it continues for most of the film. He has no patience for anyone who isn't an American, and he doesn't have all that much tolerance for Americans either to be honest. He struck me as a lonely character but I did feel sorry for him in a way. Eastwood brings to life the grumpy Walt very well, with a permanent p*ssed off look on his face and the old man demeanour which almost lets down the inner strength of Walt. Walt's reluctance to befriend the young Koreans was well tackled, and I feel Eastwood has really done justice to the issue.

The other main cast members were all young enough to be Eastwood's grandchildren, yet they did a great job in their roles. Ahney Her was simply brilliant as young Sue, the Korean girl next door who gives as good as she gets from Walt. She was very edgy and modern, almost the opposite of what Walt expected from her, and I liked her acting. She was very warm and endeared herself to the audience through her performance. Her on-screen brother Thao (Toad!) was played by Bee Vang in a good performance, although I felt his young age and inexperience did come through a fair bit compared to Her. The rest of the cast were good, and another performance I enjoyed was Christopher Carley as Father Janovich, very believable and he worked very well with Eastwood.

The majority of the action takes place at Walt's house and the Lor house. It does occasionally go out into the neighbourhood but I didn't feel it was at all hampered by the lack of location changing. The film really focusses on the relationship between Walt and the Lor's so it didn't need to expand itself much further than it did. The film is named after Walt's car which funnily enough doesn't play that big a part in the film but its subtlety made it all the more important and a pivotal part of the story. This movie unfolds like a closely folded piece of paper, bit by bit until the full picture becomes clear, it was brilliant and the pace of it was just right and very enjoyable. I felt the start was a little slower than the rest of the movie, but it was an important introduction to Walt before he starts to accept the Lor family and I found it an interesting beginning.

I didn't expect the movie to be at all touching like it was, and for me that was a nice surprise. The film tries to teach the value of tolerance of all people and widening your circle of friends, and I think it definitely delivers on this. Walt begins as a hateable person yet by the end, he is very likeable and a hero, not just in the War Veteran sense either. There are touching moments throughout the movie, and although they aren't too sentimental or soppy, they are just nice enough for you to see the progress between the characters and see where it is all going to end up. Saying that, neither of us predicted the ending that occured in the film so kudos to Eastwood for not picking the obvious way out for this film.

It was a fantastic film, certainly not at all what I expected so I applaud Eastwood for making a film that isn't at all what it seems. It has a great cast which is led by a living legend and Eastwood does a great job with the direction too. There are some parts of the film which I felt were uncomfortable to watch, one scene in particular brought tears to my eyes because of the power of its imagery but they were by no means out of place, and were necessary for the plot. Just when you feel happy with the film, it shocks you and takes another direction and this is what I really loved about this movie - unexpected and brilliant. It's an honest look at issues to do with race and racism, it doesn't shy away from using racist terms yet it works. I highly recommend it, we both loved it and it is a great film and triumph for Clint Eastwood.

Directed by Clint Eastwood
Written by Nick Schenk and Dave Johannson
Running Time: 116 minutes
Certificate: 15

Main Cast:
Clint Eastwood ... Walt Kowalski
Christopher Carley ... Father Janovich
Bee Vang ... Thao Vang Lor
Ahney Her ... Sue Lor
Brian Haley ... Mitch Kowalski
Geraldine Hughes ... Karen Kowalski
Dreama Walker ... Ashley Kowalski
Brian Howe ... Steve Kowalski
John Carroll Lynch ... Barber Martin

Thank you for reading.

Summary: A brilliant film