Jason KingGran Torino ($15-)
January 23rd 2009 22:43
Category: No Category
Gran Torino ($15-)
For his fourth directorial feature in the span of two years, Clint Eastwood tells the story of a grizzled Korean War vet's reluctant friendship with a Hmong teenage boy and his immigrant family. Set in contemporary Detroit, GRAN TORINO tackles the shifting cultural and economic landscape of not only the Motor City, but America as well. Eastwood stars as Walt Kowalski, an unabashed bigot who never heard a racial insult he didn't love. Bitter, haunted, and full of pride, Walt refuses to abandon the neighborhood he's lived in for decades despite its changing demographics as he clings desperately to a mindset long since out of step with the times. When his Hmong neighbor Thao tries to steal his prized muscle car as part of a gang initiation, Walt is forced to grapple with the world around him. There is nothing subtle about Walt's bigotry, yet his misanthropy knows no bounds, and Eastwood does a remarkable job. Estranged from his family and his church, and without any sense of personal peace, Walt offers all that he has to Thao and his family, namely wisdom and protection. When tragedy strikes the family, Eastwood allows a little classic Harry Callahan to poke through, but the surprising finale shows us a hero that Dirty Harry would never have the guts to be.
A basic rundown is that the film is Boyz in the Hood for Seniors. I have never seen a film more racist, Walt does not hold back in his one liners of racial degradation. He also spends half the film snarling and honestly that snarl is scary. If he was my neighbor I would move pretty quickly. The funny thing was, half of our cinema was filled with people of Asian decent and thankgod they were all laughing at the same spots.
How a 79 year old actor can still pull off something this threatening is astounding, he stops gangbangers in their tracks and basically leaves them whimpering. To see Clint act is amazing and like fine port he has gotten better over the years and his stories have gone from gun toting revenge freaks to characters that like to get revenge but with a heart and story. How Brad Pitt (Ben Button) obtained an Oscar nomination over Clint is beyond me - this is vintage Clint Eastwood with hints of his past films. It's a film that reflects his cop films like Unforgiven reflected his older Westerns.
For an actor this great it is hard for the people around him to match his calibre, the Hmong actors have never acted before and pull off some good scenes occasionally but alot of the time they fall behind Clint in a long way. The respect he gains for his neighbors in the film you can see he has in bucketloads for them as a people in real life and his abundant patience for them to pull off the scenes is evident. Bee Vang as Thao Vang Lor and Ahney Her Sue Lor try really hard and I did feel for them so they must have been succesful to some extent but the gangbangers and even his own family are pretty woeful.
This is a TWO ACT film and ACT 1 is more humorous than dramatic and then ACT 2 slowly builds and punches out through the screen to grab your heart and throw things into Eastwood GOLD. Be prepared for some emotive performances.
Trivia (care of IMDB):
1) This was one of the first films to take advantage of the state of Michigan's new law that provided tax incentive packages to film productions.
2) Open casting calls for Hmong actors were held in Hmong communities in Detroit, Michigan; Saint Paul, Minnesota; and Fresno, California. None of the Hmong actors in the cast had acted in a film before except Doua Moua.
3) Clint Eastwood encouraged the Hmong actors to ad-lib in the Hmong language.
4) John Carroll Lynch (who played Walt's barber, Martin) also starred in Zodiac (2007/I), portraying prime suspect Arthur Leigh Allen. Clint Eastwood played the title character in Dirty Harry (1971), a film whose villain was based on the Zodiac killer.
5) This film was once extensively falsely rumored to going to be a final installment in the Dirty Harry franchise series.
6) Gran Torinos were built in Lorain, OH, about two hours from Detroit. The truck Walt drives, however, could have been built in Wayne, Michigan, twenty miles from Highland Park.
7) The Gran Torino car of the title was also the car used in the 70s cop show "Starsky and Hutch" (1975). David Soul acted with Eastwood in the Dirty Harry sequel Magnum Force (1973) playing another cop two years before he landed the part of Detective Ken Hutchinson in "Starsky and Hutch" (1975). Eastwood himself drove a Ford Torino sedan in The Enforcer (1976).
8) The rifle Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) uses in the film is an American M1 Garand, a 9.5lb .30-06 gas operated rifle. It was first issued during WWII and was again issued in Korea before being phased out by the M14 selective fire .308 rifle. Since Kowalski was a Korean war veteran, it can be assumed he had such a fondness of this rifle in service that he bought his own for collector value. The pistol Kowalski uses is an M1911A1, a .45 ACP semi automatic handgun also issued during the Korean war. It would seem Kowalski's gun collection consists of the weapons he used in service.
9) Kowalski is also the last name of the anti hero in the muscle car driven cult classic Vanishing Point (1971).
10) One of only three movies which features Clint Eastwood singing, the others being Paint Your Wagon (1969) and Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970).
With so many great films out at the moment it must be hard trying to pick which ones to watch - I recommend you bump this one up your list. Well worth $15-
For his fourth directorial feature in the span of two years, Clint Eastwood tells the story of a grizzled Korean War vet's reluctant friendship with a Hmong teenage boy and his immigrant family. Set in contemporary Detroit, GRAN TORINO tackles the shifting cultural and economic landscape of not only the Motor City, but America as well. Eastwood stars as Walt Kowalski, an unabashed bigot who never heard a racial insult he didn't love. Bitter, haunted, and full of pride, Walt refuses to abandon the neighborhood he's lived in for decades despite its changing demographics as he clings desperately to a mindset long since out of step with the times. When his Hmong neighbor Thao tries to steal his prized muscle car as part of a gang initiation, Walt is forced to grapple with the world around him. There is nothing subtle about Walt's bigotry, yet his misanthropy knows no bounds, and Eastwood does a remarkable job. Estranged from his family and his church, and without any sense of personal peace, Walt offers all that he has to Thao and his family, namely wisdom and protection. When tragedy strikes the family, Eastwood allows a little classic Harry Callahan to poke through, but the surprising finale shows us a hero that Dirty Harry would never have the guts to be.
A basic rundown is that the film is Boyz in the Hood for Seniors. I have never seen a film more racist, Walt does not hold back in his one liners of racial degradation. He also spends half the film snarling and honestly that snarl is scary. If he was my neighbor I would move pretty quickly. The funny thing was, half of our cinema was filled with people of Asian decent and thankgod they were all laughing at the same spots.
How a 79 year old actor can still pull off something this threatening is astounding, he stops gangbangers in their tracks and basically leaves them whimpering. To see Clint act is amazing and like fine port he has gotten better over the years and his stories have gone from gun toting revenge freaks to characters that like to get revenge but with a heart and story. How Brad Pitt (Ben Button) obtained an Oscar nomination over Clint is beyond me - this is vintage Clint Eastwood with hints of his past films. It's a film that reflects his cop films like Unforgiven reflected his older Westerns.
For an actor this great it is hard for the people around him to match his calibre, the Hmong actors have never acted before and pull off some good scenes occasionally but alot of the time they fall behind Clint in a long way. The respect he gains for his neighbors in the film you can see he has in bucketloads for them as a people in real life and his abundant patience for them to pull off the scenes is evident. Bee Vang as Thao Vang Lor and Ahney Her Sue Lor try really hard and I did feel for them so they must have been succesful to some extent but the gangbangers and even his own family are pretty woeful.
This is a TWO ACT film and ACT 1 is more humorous than dramatic and then ACT 2 slowly builds and punches out through the screen to grab your heart and throw things into Eastwood GOLD. Be prepared for some emotive performances.
Trivia (care of IMDB):
1) This was one of the first films to take advantage of the state of Michigan's new law that provided tax incentive packages to film productions.
2) Open casting calls for Hmong actors were held in Hmong communities in Detroit, Michigan; Saint Paul, Minnesota; and Fresno, California. None of the Hmong actors in the cast had acted in a film before except Doua Moua.
3) Clint Eastwood encouraged the Hmong actors to ad-lib in the Hmong language.
4) John Carroll Lynch (who played Walt's barber, Martin) also starred in Zodiac (2007/I), portraying prime suspect Arthur Leigh Allen. Clint Eastwood played the title character in Dirty Harry (1971), a film whose villain was based on the Zodiac killer.
5) This film was once extensively falsely rumored to going to be a final installment in the Dirty Harry franchise series.
6) Gran Torinos were built in Lorain, OH, about two hours from Detroit. The truck Walt drives, however, could have been built in Wayne, Michigan, twenty miles from Highland Park.
7) The Gran Torino car of the title was also the car used in the 70s cop show "Starsky and Hutch" (1975). David Soul acted with Eastwood in the Dirty Harry sequel Magnum Force (1973) playing another cop two years before he landed the part of Detective Ken Hutchinson in "Starsky and Hutch" (1975). Eastwood himself drove a Ford Torino sedan in The Enforcer (1976).
8) The rifle Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) uses in the film is an American M1 Garand, a 9.5lb .30-06 gas operated rifle. It was first issued during WWII and was again issued in Korea before being phased out by the M14 selective fire .308 rifle. Since Kowalski was a Korean war veteran, it can be assumed he had such a fondness of this rifle in service that he bought his own for collector value. The pistol Kowalski uses is an M1911A1, a .45 ACP semi automatic handgun also issued during the Korean war. It would seem Kowalski's gun collection consists of the weapons he used in service.
9) Kowalski is also the last name of the anti hero in the muscle car driven cult classic Vanishing Point (1971).
10) One of only three movies which features Clint Eastwood singing, the others being Paint Your Wagon (1969) and Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970).
With so many great films out at the moment it must be hard trying to pick which ones to watch - I recommend you bump this one up your list. Well worth $15-
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Comment by Damo
I wanna see this.
"You ever met someone you shouldn't have mess with? Well, I am that guy."
It is a classic.
Comment by Randy Inman
Waxing Political
Football Dogz
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Randy - glad you liked.
Thanks for comments guys!
Comment by Linh
Celluloid Fun
I really enjoyed this film even with all the racist name calling and prejudice, yet it seemed quite funny how Clint Eastwood delivered his lines.
Excellent review also.
Cheers!
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Glad you liked it - it was strange, I cringed a few times at the racism but the whole cinema (Asians, Latinos and anyone else he could hate) laughed with me at his delivery and it had to be that way for his character. It wasn't his theme of the film to deliver a message of hate but how someone who hates so much can come around and see there is good in every one - including a race of people he hates.
Thanks for your comments.
Have a good one!