In theaters. Rated R, 118 minutes. Trailer.
Clint Eastwood's supposed swan song, Gran Torino, is the most enjoyable movie I've seen all year. I laughed out loud at least 10 times, and Eastwood's grizzled reprise of all of his cumulative tough guys was absolutely sublime. Eastwood's Walt Kowalski is the typical 70 something veteran living in the neighborhood they raised their families in as it transitions into lower class housing for immigrants. He is racist, rude, and stereotypical in every way. The film opens at the funeral of his wife of 50 years, and his scowl lets you know what's coming. Click below for more GT:
He is annoyed by his asian Hmong neighbors and lets them know it. After a scuffle ends up on his lawn, he brandishes a gun to get rid of them, unwittingly ensnaring himself in a complex cultural situation. All the while he is bothered by a young priest trying to make spiritual headway with him at the request of his late wife. The relationship of Walt with the Hmong's was predictable, but not tired. I enjoyed his relationship with Sue, the daughter, the most, although the relationship with Toad was rewarding as well. My biggest concern, based on the trailer, was that this would be a generic multi-culti sermon - but the screenwriter is smarter than that, weaving the issues in cleverly.
The violent conflict in the film is a little unrealistic and simplified, but it works. The inner conflict from Walt's past sins in Korea and his inability to enjoy life is more interesting, but not groundbreaking by any stretch. Clint as Walt is my favorite character of the year, as he captures the decency and values we are losing with the generation that is dying away. Clint the director has some nice touches, most notably the 'confession' with Toad through the screen about his Korean situation. The story itself gets a B+, but my enjoyment of the film pushed it to an A-.
Given my general ambivalence toward Director Eastwood's films, the film may have benefited from low expectations, but it doesn't matter, because its the first movie I've wanted to see again (and soon) since the Dark Knight. Go see this one, quick. I saw it with a large audience that laughed at the right spots, which helped my enjoyment of the film via some weird community catharsis about the absurdity of the racial stereotypes used by Walt.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Gran Torino - A-
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3 comments:
Looks like I'll bump it up to a theater viewing. Hopefully it will be in Houston soon. I have Benjamin Button pencilled in this upcoming Wednesday.
Saw it again tonight. Still an A-.
Saw this over the weekend and agree that it is the most enjoyable of the award season releases. i think clint's gotten enough oscar love of late, and would rather the honors go elsewhere this year, but the box office can't be hurting his chances to pick up nods in at least smaller categories (if not best actor). clint's style of shooting, shoot a scene once or twice and move on, with little rehearsal, leads to people talking over each other and some awkward pauses. At first this annoyed me, but ultimately gave the film immediacy and realism. This is probably an A- for me as well. I was most interested in Eastwood's surprisingly positive take on faith and redemption, something i'll write a post about in the next day or two. FYI- if you buy the song, Eastwood's singing at the beginning is not part of it.
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