It’s so funny that I’ve heard two people, of my parent’s age roughly, who said they don’t like Clint Eastwood.  I’m thinking that they were more so talking about the Clint Eastwood of yesteryear who only did movies like Dirty Harry and good cop bad cop movies.  Well, no that his newest foray into film making, starring and producing is much different.  Clint plays a gun toting old codger who hates everything that is foreign to him.  He’s your typical grumpy old man who spouts racist remarks and degrading names, and somehow you know from the beginning of the movie that he’ll find some sort of enlightenment and peace when a Korean family moves in next store to him.

By the way, before I get started, I can’t belive Clint at his age is still capable of directing such a wonderfully made and heartfelt movie, and also starring in it.  There must be no end to his energy, and I really congratulate him on that.  This movie endeared the old man to us more, even those of us who maybe didn’t like his earlier work.  I certainly gained a new respect for him.  He plays Walt Kowalski, a man who has just lost his wife and barely knows his estranged sons who seem to fear him more than anything.  And who can blame them?  We see him react with fury to them several times, and watch them react with anger and fear to the stodgy old man.

We even see that he’s not close to his grandkids, who obviously fear him as well.  Although we don’t get as much of a glimpse into his home life before his wife died, and his kids went home, we know that he was an emotionally distant, bottled up guy, and still is throughout.  However, he gradually becomes close to the Korean family that lives next door, who actually befriend him even after all of his racial slurs and epithets.

He starts the friendship with the young teen girl in the family, and gradually he also becomes friends with the 16 year old boy as well, even after he points a shotgun at him for trying to steal his Gran Torino (the namesake of the movie), which is a mint condition car that he has worked on and treasured since his days working at the Ford plant for his whole life.  The friendships stem from an incident with an asian gang who include one of their cousins.  They try over and over to get Tao, the young kid, to join them.

Clint is great in the film, projecting the grump old man very well, and he even makes you feel uncomfortable a few times with how rude and socially awkward he can be.  We find throughout the movie the reasons for his emotional development being stunted, and although this movie is two hours long, you will find yourself surprised that it’s already the end when the end comes.  There is a reason this movie gets high marks from everyone, it’s something that everyone will enjoy, and if you don’t enjoy it well, you should give it another chance.  Although sometimes it seems a little unrealistic and a little forced in painting the picture against racism, it’s a great film for all.