Gran Torino (Full-Screen Edition)
by Clint Eastwood
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DVD details
Actor: Brian Haley, Christopher Carley, Clint Eastwood, Geraldine HughesDirector: Clint Eastwood
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); French (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 116 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-06-09
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of Gran Torino (Full-Screen Edition)
DVD Review: Change of Pace Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been a long time fan of Eastwood's and I can honestly say that this is amongst my favorites. It is certainly much more satisfying than "Million Dollar Baby" at least in my book and definitely above "Bloodwork". It's not "Unforgiven" or "Dirty Harry". All of those to varying degrees were escapist fodder. Escaping into the old west or the streets of San Francisco can be pleasurable. "Gran Torino" has moments that harkens back to William Money or Harry Callahan but only moments. Those are probably the moments seen in the previews. This movie surprised me with its combination of drama and humor and compassion in dealing with sensitive subjects like aging, death, racism, religion and a re-evaluation of a person's values; to come to peace with inner demons that have tormented someone and finding peace within one's self. The characters flawed enough so that there is no preachy message here or anything and doesn't pretend to be some sensitive film about any of it's subject, but instead deals with them rather harshly actually.
There is plenty of humor to be found herein as Walt Kowalski, Polish-American veteran of the Korean War, retired auto plant worker and now a widower faces the change of having to deal with things changing in his life. Kowalski never misses a chance to get in a racial slur and even as his son drives away after the wife's funeral, Kowalski noticing the make of the son's vehicle mutters," Why can't you buy American?" and inside the vehicle the son Mitch's comments are about the predictability of dad's racist outlook on things. And speaking of racism there is a heavy dose of this elsewhere as well.
Walt's neighbors are Hmong people whose son is harassed by a group of thugs wanting to initiate him into their gang so as to protect him from a rival Mexican gang. Thao Vang Lor is assigned the task of stealing Kowalski's prize possession from his days at the Ford plant, a mint condition 1972 Ford Gran Torino. Thao botches his assignment and the gang show up to give Thao a second chance. When he refuses that gang becomes violent and Kowalski is awakened by the shouts and the sounds of yard ornaments being knocked over and broken. Walt armed with his shotgun isn't afraid of the gang or their "f" word vocabulary. The gang backs off and retreats and Walt becomes an unwilling hero to the Hmong's whether he likes it or not. Only Thao and his sister, Su speak any English so Walt is unable to communicate to the other relatives that he just wanted to left alone. After being smothered with flowers and trays of Hmong delicacies, Thao's mother, Vu forces Thao to confess to Walt about his attempted car theft. Su, translating for Vu explains that Thao must atone for his deed by working for Walt. Walt reluctantly becomes sort of father figure to Thao even getting him a job in construction and loaning him tools, but Thao's cousin from the street gang and friends have other ideas and brutally beat Thao one day while heading home from work. Su also is rescued from some black thugs by Walt and expresses her gratitude by making Walt a regular dinner guest. Meanwhile, Walt goes after one of the gang the beat up Thao and leaves him beaten and bruised with a warning to leave Thao alone. The gang retaliates, opening fire on the front of the Vang Lor's house with automatic weapons, and beating and raping Su.
The end has Walt finally coming to terms with his racism and other demons. Thao assumes that Walt will go after the gang for what they did to Su and that he will be along for the ride. Walt forbids this and locks him in the basement. The end is a fatal shoot out with Walt as the victim and the gang is placed under arrest.
The gist of this is that Walt has never told anyone that he was dying of tuberculosis. He is seen visiting a clinic and coughing up blood on several occasions. He dies for a cause and settles his demons regarding the things he did in the war which have haunted him all of his life and are the underlying reason for his bitterness. He resents being a hero for things he didn't want to do in the first place. This may seem a bit contrived but it flows well and ties up all of the loose ends nice and neatly and even gives you some things to think about as well.
This isn't the greatest movie that Eastwood has ever done. But it may serve as the final chapter in all of those "aged" character movies that he's been putting out since "Unforgiven. The aging gunfighter(Unforgiven), aging thief (Absolute Power), aging news reporter (True Crime), aging secret service agent (In The Line of Fire) and so forth. This seems to be sort of the culmination and final chapter of that series of movies the same common thread. This, however, does deserve a place amongst Eastwood's best and most original movies.
Description of Gran Torino (Full-Screen Edition)
A disgruntled Korean War vet, Walt Kowalski (Eastwood), sets out to reform his neighbor, a young Hmong teenager, who tried to steal Kowalski's prized possession: his 1972 Gran Torino.Bestsellers in DVD
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