Finally, I get to watch a movie initiated by me and watched solely by me. The moment I saw the trailer of the movie, Gran Torino, on Studio 23’s News Central, I knew that once it’s out in theaters, I’m watching. Too bad that because of me being so excited and anxious, I read a spoiler over the internet which kinda ha me already knew what the ending may look like. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the film.

I failed to watch Gran Torino at the very beginning but was able to at get to the film’s developing storyline. The movie is about Walt, a typical cranky old man who lives next door. He’s a former Korean war veteran who hates people who touches his property, including his prized Gran Torino. His wife recently passed away and his immediate family, from his two sons to his grandchildren, shows no respect whatsoever to him nor his late wife. Later in the movie, he regretted being unable to know his own kids (which led to his kids’ total show of disrespect towards their own father). He lives in a neighborhood that is increasingly becoming populated by immigrants from different parts of the world. Many of his neighbors are Hmong, a hill people from Southeast Asia.

Everything changes when a gang of Hmong delinquent had a young teenaged Hmong named Thao undergo an initiation by stealing Walt’s Gran Torino. Walt was able to caught him while he aims a shotgun towards the “gangbangers”. In order to pay of his crime, Thao spent 2 weeks to serve Walt by cleaning his housek hsi neighbor’s house, garden, wash his car, the works. Eventually, the two got close, almost like a father-and-son relationship. Walt also brokered a firendship with Thao’s sister, Sue, who explained to him the ways of the Hmong.

Things turns nasty when the Hmong gangsters went to Thao for revenge and had a still burning cigarette butt marked the poor boy’s face. Walt retaliated by ganging up against one of the members, presumably Thao’s cousin. The gang fired back, literally, at Thau’s house. He almost got shot while Sue was unknowingly attacked and later raped by the same gang.

Unable to forgive himself for what happened, Walt (who by that time, knew that he’s suffering from lung cancer) made a clever plan on pinning down the gangsters without blood being spilled other than his. He made it looked like as if he was reaching for a gun beneath his jacket to the gang without them knowing that he was merely reaching out for his lighter to light his cancer stick (while at the same time performing “Hail Mary”). Unknowingly deceived, they shot him several times before he collapsed to the green lawn in a “crucified” position, complete with blood spilling from his hands.

The gang got arrested after witnesses around the neighborhood saw what happened. In his final will, Colt passed down all his properties, including the Gran Torino to his friend Thau (much to the dismay of his family, who never really cared for the poor old man). The film ends as Thau drives away with his “new” car.
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Review:

I’m all praises with almost everything about the film. The characters, the story, even the production values embedded into the film. You can’t call Clint Eastwood a director for nothing!

I like the quirky interactions between the character Walt and Sue as well as the familial bond formed between him and Thau. His interactions with the largely multicultural characters also contributed with the development of Walt, from becoming a cranky old man to a caring and humane individual.

Speaking of humane, I could see hints of Clint Eastwood itching to do some action pack stunts at any given moment of the film but fortunately, it was cleverly avoided as Clint’s character was never shown using his gun other than merely holding it. This is a vast departure to the actor’s past portrayal of characters that always go for gold with the guns, goons and sex. Plus, as comic relief, we see that other than his constant irritation with his neighbors, he has this failing for chicken dumplings :D.

The two other central characters, Thau and Sue, were also convincing, proving that there are young actors that could also go to the same intensity of effectively portraying characters with an essence of realism. (The character Sue looks like Gaby dela Merced if you ask me). In the case of Thau, the kind of talent he has is still kind of raw but given the opportunity to portray offbeat roles in future films, he can do wonders.

On the technical aspect, I noticed that the film is about 80% percent void of music scoring. Having no background music could bore viewers but the film was able to fill that void with fast and effective pacing , with BGM added when necessary. The use of cool colors as hue greatly supported the mood and setting of the movie (living in a town somewhere in the Midwest).

I also noticed though a kind of time transition between certain scenes. There was this scene which is set to a day after the previous sequence then after less than a minute, proceeded to the next sequence set a day later. It’s not exactly a negative nor a positive thing but I feel like either one of the scenes felt unnecessary to be included on the final cut. The two sequences are: 1)the one where Thau repeatedly pressed the doorbell while Walt was in the bathroom, coughing up blood, and 2) we are forwarded to a scene where we see Walt coming out from his truck that he had just parked it outside his home.

Unlike other mainstream films produced by the US, Gran Torino’s cast are 90% non-white, showcasing the reality of America’s changing dynamics (which began with the influx of non-English immigrants in the United States, if you recall your world history), becoming increasingly diverse, shaping American society as a whole (Never got tired of saying that). Clint did the same thing when he had a predominantly Japanese cast (and those of Japanese-descent) for “Letters from Iwo Jima”)

Nonetheless, I’m satisfied with what I saw: the smooth and well-paced flow of the movie, never a boring scene nor an action-packed sequence that Clint Eastwood fans would usually expect from the award-winning actor/director/producer, and the ability of Clint Eastwood himself to really dwell on unfamiliar territory, drama (although his potential to do drama was already seen in his two previous films, “Flags of Our Fathers”, and “Letters from Iwo Jima”).

“Gran Torino” is definitely worth your money!