Gran Torino

Gran Torino

I was hesitant to see Gran Torino, mostly because I had no idea what it was about. But after hearing great things about it and nearly running out of movies in the Red Box queue I decided to bite the bullet. It was partially what I expected, a nasty old man whose heart turns when he becomes involved in the lives of his neighbors. And while that sounds rather drab, it was really remarkable to see his heart turn towards them and the kids respect him even while he insulted their people.

The movie is full of stereotypical one liners and the acting–by everyone but Clint–was horrendous, making the movie almost unbearable. But if you can grimace through everyone else's lines you'll catch the gems from Clint, like "just keep your hands off my dog" in regard to his belief that his Asian neighbors would eat his best friend.

You should make it all the way through, even though my thoughts about the other actors suggests otherwise the culmination of the movie will possibly anger and please you. It did me. You'll find the song at the end when the credits begin to roll is sung by Clint himself, a love song to the gran torino that the story continues to circle back to. Gran Torino proves Clint's prowess as an amazing actor, producer, and director, but shows that he needs to expand into acting coach as well.

6/10 - would've scored more if there was more than one good actor.