Gran Torino is one of Clint Eastwood’s last movies, and that alone is a reason to go see it. He’s the actor who is the archetype of the unflinching, laconic, aggressive, tough vigilante. Despite his advanced age, this film still sees him on form, gruffly adding to his prodigious collection of quotable moments with the fantastically menacing query, “Ever met someone you shouldn’t have fucked with?”
Clint Eastwood’s masterful portrayal of Walt Kowalski is the centerpiece of Gran Torino. He is an elderly veteran and auto-worker retiree, a frigid man whose wife’s recent death has left him lonely and alienated from his children and neighbors. He finds pride and satisfaction in the things of his past: his well-worn rifle and medals from the Korean War, his old trusty Ford pickup, the faded wedding pictures that represent to him the best years of his life. Eastwood’s performance, and the film’s sparing artistic depiction, are parsimonious. Kowalski is unveiled slowly, with straightforward revelations. To show his changes of heart or emotional outbursts, the filmmakers don’t resort to any sappy music or corny montages, but instead show exactly what needs to be seen, without hesitation or audience-manipulating sentimentality.
From the vantage point of a deck chair on the front porch, the audience can understand Walt’s dissatisfaction with current times. His unbuttoned-untucked-relaxed-fit chump of a salesman son; the slick imported Japanese automobiles that glide through the streets; the Hispanic-gang versus Asian-gang diversity of his hardscrabble neighborhood: theatergoers can almost feel themselves grumbling and cursing with fogeyish disapproval and reaching for another beer. Certainly, part of the appeal of Gran Torino is simply to wallow in the glorious, outrageous, aggressive curmudgeonliness of Walt Kowalski. (See- His face flare with contempt for his bratty grandchildren! Hear- An endless string of hilarious and ever-more-obscure racial slurs exit his pinched lips! Experience- the victim’s-eye-view of his boot crashing down faceward!)
But of course the story is not just an endless riff on Kowalski-the-cranky-bigot. Gran Torino’s plot is an elaboration on all of the themes existent in the man’s life, good and bad. Despite Kowalski’s distaste for the present, the past isn’t idealized either. He clearly has serious problems with his children, not to mention his nightmarish memories of battle in Korea. When he, by chance, befriends the Hmong immigrant family living next door to him, Kowalski is presented with an opportunity in which to develop his hostile relationship with the world. After the boy of the family, Thao (Bee Vang), tries to steal Kowalski’s eponymous muscle car, he has to make amends by working for the old man. In time, Kowalski warms up to the “zipperheads,” finding in Thao a vicarious son to mentor. When his neighbors come into contention with a local gang, Kowalski’s violent streak fuels the conflict. Ultimately he feels himself responsible for concluding the clash. This final act is closure not only for his immediate involvement, but also a final distillation of the various raw materials of his life, particularly his violent experiences in the Korean War.
Clint Eastwood directed, produced, and starred in Gran Torino; viewed as a personal project, it is an interesting development of the actor’s career. For a man who gained fame playing independent, violent, even brutal characters, Gran Torino functions as a retrospective meditation on violence: how it shapes a person, an appraisal of it, and the challenge of dealing with its interference in everyday life. It also seems to act as a reassessment of a life of rugged individualism. Kowalski’s initial scornful rejection of his late wife’s priest is in time tempered by reflection and regret. Eastwood is 78-years-old; perhaps, like his character, he wishes to provide a meaningful synthesis of his life’s motifs in his remaining time.
Overall, the movie is remarkably well balanced. It treats important themes seriously, but also includes bits of fun (even Eastwood seems barely able to hold back a smirk as he croaks out, “Get me another beer… Dragon-Lady!”) The characterization is impressive too. Kowalski, who at first glance is a pretty flat character, eventually comes into sight as much more nuanced and complicated. Similar processes of maturation can be seen in other characters, for example, the priest, Father Janovich (Christopher Carley), who begins as little more than a caricature, but becomes refined through his experiences with Walt. The relationship between Thao and Walt provides a fair deal of characterization as well, allowing both to show off different sides of their personalities. The acting in the movie is at a consistently high level of quality, which makes even minor characters and scenes memorable. Gran Torino also benefits from outstanding acting debuts by the Hmong-American actors Bee Vang and Ahney Her, who play Thao and his sister Sue.
Great performances, a gripping story, and a just-right mix of severity and humor make this film a winner. Go ahead, punk…it’ll make your day.
