Posted on 12/16/2008 1:38:52 PM PST by Publius804
DHP Review: Gran Torino
Clint Eastwood’s hinted that Gran Torino might be his last turn in front of the camera. If that’s true, he could not have chose for himself a more fitting farewell. Without a hint of the self-referential, Torino touches on the many iconic moments of both his best genre pictures and more serious fare. Most of all, he’s masterfully blended both into a hard-hitting, supremely satisfying story that carries big themes with a deft gentleness.
Working from a superb script by relative newcomer Nick Schenk, Gran Torino opens in just the kind of Catholic church you expect to see in an old Detroit suburb. Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) is there to bury his beloved wife and to disapprove of the rest of his family. Having toughed his way through as a soldier in Korea and decades on the Ford assembly line, the strongest emotion he can summon for his spoiled kin is sarcastic disapproval with a side order of contempt.
Walt growls. Not figuratively, literally. He growls at the belly-pierced granddaughter who queries him on what he’ll leave her in his will, he growls at his son (Brian Haley) who thinks he’s outgrown the old, simple man who is his father, and he growls at Father Janovich (Christopher Carley), a baby-faced Priest who refuses to go away because he promised a dying wife he’d get Walt to agree to take confession.
At 78 (Eastwood plays his real age), Walt can live with this. He may not have made peace with his demons, but he is used to them and keeps life’s pleasures simple. Retired with a big old yellow dog for company, all Walt wants from life is his morning coffee, afternoon Pabst Blue Ribbon, a pack of filterless smokes, and a quiet porch to enjoy them on.
(Excerpt) Read more at dirtyharrysplace.com ...
You sure you seen the same movie?
This movie was awesome. I went yesterday and the theater was packed. At the end when the credits rolled, it was eerily quite I looked around and seen plenty of women and men wiping their eyes. Haven’t seen that since “The Passion”.
You sure you seen the same movie?
This movie was awesome. I went yesterday and the theater was packed. At the end when the credits rolled, it was eerily quite I looked around and seen plenty of women and men wiping their eyes. Haven’t seen that since “The Passion”.
The acting of the supporting characters was atrocious. Flat, and completely unemmotional. It could have been a really good movie, but for that IMHO.
He threw everything (nothing) into that sop of a picture.
I can say this: My Dad's veteran buddies never talked that garbage. Hey Clint a hint: Korea didn't make your character so glum and mean-—50 years at FORD probably did.
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