January 20, 2009 -- “Gran Torino” is reportedly the last movie that Clint Eastwood will ever star in. It marks the end of a long, wildly successful acting career, but Eastwood will no doubt continue to direct films for years to come (he directed “Gran Torino” and also composed music for the film and sings a song over the credits). Eastwood began his career as an actor over 50 years ago, appearing in some forgettable science fiction movies before landing the memorable role of Rowdy Yates in the popular TV series, “Rawhide” and then appearing in a series of great Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns, the greatest of which was “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly,” considered by many to be the greatest film of the Western genre.

His hard-bitten, taciturn character in Gran Torino, Walt Kowalski, is not altogether different than the characters he played in those old Italian Westerns or in his popular “Dirty Harry” movies. Kowalski, a Korean War veteran, has a perpetual scowl on his face. He is unapologetically politically incorrect, calling his Vietnamese neighbors “gooks” and “slopes.” He has a whole store of ancient disparaging phrases for every sort of minority and ethnic type. The movie, of course reveals that he really has a heart of gold. Inside, he is an old softie. Outside, he may be old and sick, but he is still tough as nails. As he notes to a bunch of neighborhood toughs roughing up a girl who lives next door, he is one old guy you don't want to mess with.

When he catches his next door neighbor, Thao (Bee Vang), trying to steal his prized, mint 1972 Gran Torino car, he eventually becomes a mentor to the boy (after shooting at him at first). He eventually becomes the boy's protector from local gang members, along with his sister, Sue (Ahney Her), and their whole family. While the film is mostly grim (it opens and closes with funerals) it does have one of the funniest moments of any film of the year when Thao shows that he has learned Walt's lesson on how to “talk like a man” during his job interview. Walt's hostility towards his next door neighbors gradually melts away under an avalanche of gifts from a grateful neighborhood. Tensions between Walt and the heavily-armed gang members continues to mount throughout the movie. It finally ends with a showdown, but there is a twist to the story. In addition to Walt's relationship with his neighbors, there is also a related story about his difficult relationship with his sons and grandchildren. Yet another subplot relates to Walt's troubled relationship with the church, similar to a subplot in Eastwood's earlier award-winning film, “Million Dollar Baby.” He finally warms to a determined family priest, Father Janovich (Christopher Carley).

While some parts of the story seem awkward, and not all the parts fit together, and Walt's character is inconsistent, it seems fitting for Eastwood to end his acting career this way, with a character very much in the mold of a gunslinger, or his most famous movie character, Dirty Harry. He goes out with a bang. He goes out as a hero. He can be forgiven if he goes out a little bit over the top. This film rates a B.

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Copyright © 2009 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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