First things first, I loved this film. The plot is not one that can easily fit into any clearly defined genre and has a little bit of something for everyone, no matter what their taste in movie style. Clint Eastwood, as both director and lead actor will blow you away with this story of life, death, and the choices that we all have to make in between those points.
Our main man, Clint, plays Walt Kowalski; an elderly Korean war vet who is experiencing the recent loss of his wife and the distance that has always existed between himself and his family. His prejudices are many, and he seems absolutely careless about revealing both them, and the disgust he seems to have about the fact that the nice Detroit, MI neighborhood he enjoyed with his wife has slowly over the years become the home of immigrants and their families. Needless to say, he is not on the best of terms with the Hmong neighbors that he shares a property line with. We see this tension established from one of the first scenes, where they are having a baby shower while Walt's family gathers to grieve after the funeral of his wife.
The story begins to swirl around Walt's 1972 Gran Torino, a car he treasures above all else, and a car that the local Vietnamese gang dares Walt's young Hmong neighbor, Thao, to steal as initiation into their fold. Sweet, shy Thao fumbles this quite thoroughly, but the pressure is still on him to leave the house he lives in with his grandmother, mother and sister, and to take to the streets with the gang. Annoyed with the whole affair, Walt eventually becomes involved. Through the persistence of Thao's sister, Sue, the two families begin to make amends and Walt seems to forgive Thao for his transgressions, just as his late wife's priest has been urging Walt to do with his life and the past that haunts him.
This story is both dark and unexpectedly funny, with a very deep and meaningful message. It is impossible to not be moved in some way by it, and so I urge you to seek out this film! For those that think it will not be up their alley, I say to them: you may be surprised.
Dani
After being talked into seeing this film ("Trust me, you'll love it."), and dragged to the theater by my sister, I wasn't really sure what to expect. My sister had previously seen this movie and enjoyed it so much that she wanted to see it again with me. When I asked her what the movie was about though, she simply replied, "It's hard to explain, you’ll just have to watch it."
ReplyDeleteSo after taking her advice and sitting back and watching the movie, I completely agree with her-this movie is hard to sum up and explain in only a few short sentences. But “Gran Torino” is an amazing and well-done movie. I was completely blown away.
Coming into the theater knowing nothing about this film (I didn’t even know that “Gran Torino” was a type of car), and without ever seeing it advertised I had my doubts about it. But I was completely swept away into the story and found myself empathizing with the characters. The plot is very emotionally moving, and there are even some humorous lines, as Dani pointed out. I felt that the story was very believable and true to life.
"Gran Torino" earned an R rating due to language, violence, and disturbing themes, but don’t let that deter you. Clint Eastwood does an amazing job directing and acting, and I felt that the entire cast of actors did a great job at portraying their characters.
All in all, I loved this movie. I agree entirely with Dani, and I highly recommend it!
-Lindsay