A tale about one man's prejudices, and how he finally decides to set them aside to clean up the gang crime affecting his Detroit suburb, Gran Torino is another fine example of Eastwood's ability to pick quality projects, without necessarily catering to the pop culture media out there today.
Note: For a full theatrical review of this film, see the original review here.
Gran Torino Brief Overview
Walter "Walt" Kowalski (Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby), a retired Korean war veteran, who spent his post-war years working in Detroit's Ford factory, grieves the loss of his wife of several decades, and contemplates life without her, in their modest suburban home.
Hating his self-absorbed children, as well as feeling racial discontent at the number of immigrants slowly taking over his once peaceful neighborhood, Walt spends his days on his porch, quietly brooding about his Hmong neighbors while sipping beer and spending time with his dog Daisy.
When some Hmong gang members for the area start trying to recruit (and intimidate) young Thao (Bee Vang), Walt's young neighbor, they ask that he steal Walt's prized Ford Gran Torino Sport, as a rite of initiation.
When Walt catches Thao in the act, he tries to instill some sense into the young lad, making him realize there is more to life than joining some gang, and decides to motivate the young man into learning about responsibility, as reparation for trying to steal his car.
As Walt spends more and more time with young Thao, and his sister Sue (Ahney "Whitney" Her), his once prejudicial view of the Hmong community slowly crumbles, as he earns their respect (from saving the boy from gang recruitment), and learns more about their ways and traditions.
When the gang in question decides to harass the young family, for refusing to join, it is up to Walt to take charge of the situation, if Thao is to have a chance at a normal life. Using his wits and life experience as a soldier and a man of integrity, Walt confronts the Hmong gang, to settle the score once and for all.
Gran Torino Bluray Analysis and Special Features
As previously mentioned in the earlier review, Gran Torino benefits from Eastwood's tight and precise direction, but suffers somewhat, from his decision to cast genuine Hmong talent for the film. Young Bee Vang, who plays Thao, has a great deal of difficulty carrying the role faithfully, so it rests on Eastwood's shoulders to convey most of the intense drama in the majority of the scenes.
Many could joke that this would be a type of "Where Are They Now?" film, about what would have happened to Dirty Harry Callahan into retirement. Eastwood's Kowalski is just as vicious a character, one who doesn't take well to nonsense, and who won't be intimidated, be it by a punk kid with an urge for some street cred, or by a street hustler looking to score.
In Gran Torino, Eastwood manages to get the writers to provide ample material, to show a seasoned man, whose tolerance for low level crime in his neighborhood doesn't quite push him to the brink (à la Falling Down), but irks him just enough to put his beer down, and take action.
Gran Torino Bonus Features
The best feature on the Torino Bluray disc, is a feature called "The Eastwood Way", which in essence is a brief glimpse at how Eastwood's technique in directing this and many other films, one which is meticulous, yet very efficient, earning him a reputation in bringing in productions under budget and schedule.
Fun Trivia: Did You know Eastwood never yells "Action", preferring to tell his actors to "go ahead"?
This feature will be a real treat for anyone who's followed Clint's career over the past few decades, from his days directing his own features, into his Oscar nominated work, followed by his later work.
There are a few other extra features, one of them involving a look at a classic cars show, where owners get to boast about their prized possession (caveat: for car enthusiasts only!), and the other is a short item called "Manning the Wheel", which from the look of things, is nothing more than a handful of first person on-location interviews with cast and crew, about their first car, and what it meant to them to own a piece of their first taste of independence.
The Final Word on Gran Torino Bluray
Warner Brothers has gotten rather good at packaging its material with relevant content, and Gran Torino is no different. The film itself benefits from an excellent color and sound transfer, and makes for worthwhile viewing.
If you can get past the amateurish but honest performances from the supporting cast members, you should get a kick at watching Eastwood do what he does best, which is to convey yet another slice of Americana, and examining the injustices witnessed every day, by regular folks living in the suburbs.
8 out of 10 for a well packaged product, a great look at the Eastwood method, but with car-related segments having little to do with the movie.
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