Gran Torino: Vintage Eastwood, slightly twisted

Gran Torino is the latest opus from Eastwood, a work that has garnered high praise for the legendary actor/director, usually a variable sign for flicks as they come through this site. That being said, I am a fan. From the spaghetti westerns to Dirty Harry to his own westerns, his roles and his directing have been sharp and to the point. Some may say the acting itself is static, but it's actually quite the opposite - the steely glare can mean defiance in A Fistful of Dollars, empathy in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, respect in Million Dollar Baby. So, with that defense, I went to see his latest outing this weekend.

And, to be fully honest, I got exactly what I wanted.

The plot: Walt Kowalski is a man in his 70's. His wife has just died. His grown sons are rich suits with spoiled kids; none of them understand this man and they have given up trying. His wife's priest is a young new priest, 27 looking 13, who follows what he's been taught in seminary, none of which will reach this man.
This man, this beast. He makes Archie Bunker look welcoming. He's a Korean War vet and an equal opportunity bigot. He calls his Hmong neighbors everything, and I mean everything - "zipperhead, slant-eyed, slopes, chinks, gooks;" he calls his friend the barber an "Italian prick" and a "wop guinea." He is not a subtle man; the only creatures close to him are his dog and his buddies from the Ford plant.
Until he gets dragged into his environment. His neighbors are the Lor family: Grandma (who hates Walt as much as he hates her), the mother, and daughter Su (Ahney Her) and son Thao (Bee Vang). Thao is living in a house of women, and he does whatever he is told. He is a sensitive kid who has been trying to keep his nose clean but lacks experience, balls, or a role model.
Thao's cousin is in the local Hmong gang, and the cousin thinks he's giving Thao a hand-up when he recruits him. The initiation - steal Walt's perfect 1972 Ford Gran Torino, in mint condition. You can imagine how poorly that goes - Walt chases Thao away with his Korean War-era M-1 rifle. When the gang comes to convince Thao to try again a few days later, Walt is back with the rifle, running the ruffians off. The family is grateful; Walt just wants to be left alone.
Good luck with that. Walt has just become the hero of the neighborhood and starts to receive gifts of plants, statues, food from all the Hmong around, much to his chagrin. At first, he wants nothing to do with them, but he finds a spunky kindred spirit in Su and lets himself get drawn into their world. He never gives up his edge - he addresses them with his assorted insults to the end - but he does take Thao under his wing, the way he perhaps wishes he should have with his own sons. Through all this, he begins to face his mortality - his chewing tobacco and his smoking (called "coffin nails" by his son ironically) have led to coughing up blood, with increasing regularity
Unfortunately, the gang holds grudges and takes it out the Lor family, with a drive-by-shooting of the family home and a much more direct attack on Su. Walt realizes he's in too deep; as he tells the priest, with whom he slowly develops a respect, "Su and Thao will never have peace in this world with that gang around." He thinks, he plans - and he finds his solution. I will stop the plot here, as the solution is pretty clever; just let it be said Walt shows his love for these new friends of his, and disdain for the family that takes him for granted.

OK, so far this could be any of a handful of movies. Part Unforgiven, part Karate Kid, it's a tale that is (largely) expected. So why see it? Clint Eastwood. From the first snarl during his wife's funeral mass, you know this is a man you can, at the very least, admire for his uncompromising need for honesty and directness. Yes, this is not a great man, not a perfect man - something he admits readily. But he is a man of principle, something lacking in this world. If you want to see an actor being a character, not just playing one, this is the role, this is the performance.

That said, what to say about the rest of the film? One must acknowledge that none of the Hmong actors in the film, with the exception of the bad cousin, have any prior acting experience. This shows at times, largely in some of the delivery by Thao. The young actress who plays Su, as well as the grandmother, do play their roles full-tilt, with no deference to the actor/director nor any to Walt. Christopher Carley, an up-and-coming actor who plays the priest, does seem to relish his role as well.

Still, if you're going to see this movie, you're going to see it for Clint. And, please do. In this season of "important films," this is one film that doesn't shove it down your throat.