Directed by:
Clint EastwoodScreenplay:
Nick SchenkCinematography:
Tom SternCast:
Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, Brian Haley, Geraldine Hughes, Dreama Walker, Brian Howe, John Carroll Lynch, William Hill (more)VOD (5)
Plots(1)
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. (official distributor synopsis)
Videos (4)
Reviews (16)
“Dirty Harry" with one foot in the grave looks back on his live and ponders over questions of life and death. Clint approached this rather tired topic with great verve, and with transcends it and has a feeling of quality about it that only he has the knowhow to imprint into his movies. He follows the simple maxim “what you don’t do yourself isn’t yours". He played his best role for many years, shot his best role for many years, produced his best role for many years and partly wrote and sang his best song for many years. Shame that he didn’t shoot his best movie for many years. But still, it’s a great movie. And that’s what’s most important, isn’t it? P.S.: I couldn’t name another movie where a simple background song for the credits would make such an impact. It’s by far the best song in the whole movie. It says exactly the same, but needs just a couple of minutes to say it.
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I have a reserved attitude toward guaranteed blockbusters that the film community considers serious contenders for the best film of the year. I usually prefer films outside the mainstream and am often enthused by a true film outsider. However, in the case of Gran Torino, I have to admit that it is a very decent melodrama, where Clint Eastwood has capitalized on his extensive experience in directing and acting. It's not that the old good Clint is such a great director, but he is rather a very high-quality and reliable craftsman who knows his limits well and steers his film into waters where he feels at home. His character is actually a direct continuation of his most popular protagonists, i.e., the headhunters from old Sergio Leone westerns and, above all, the tough inspector Harry Callahan. Add 40 years to Callahan and you have the grumpy retiree and devotee of true American values, Walt Kowalski. The plot is predictable for most of the runtime and its message is clear to any slightly experienced viewer after a few minutes, but Eastwood manages to enrich his film with a series of pleasant, audience-friendly scenes, such as the initiation of an Asian teenager into the language of real men or amusing multi-ethnic clashes between the grumpy American and his Asian neighbors. Where the director maintains a tragicomic tone, his story and performance are believable and highly sympathetic. However, when elements of a fateful drama and self-sacrifice creep in, the film teeters on the edge of self-parody - for example, the moment when the nearly 80-year-old man with cancer-ridden lungs knocks down a member of a criminal gang three generations younger. Generally, Clint Eastwood's films and his characters are indeed the perfect essences of the purest American values, and his films should be obligatory screenings at Republican Party conventions. They include firearms, a tough cowboy attitude, outspoken patriotism, and social conservatism. However, if the director can lighten and complement them with, for instance, a parody of political correctness, when he and his old friend from the barbershop make subtle jokes about their nationalities, it is not only digestible but also good. Overall impression: 80%.
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This really swept me away. The entire film flows with the same melancholic mood, regardless of whether they are exchanging bullets or sarcastic wisecracks. Gran Torino drives straight to a clear ending, but that’s one of its strengths. Really, a surprising twist wouldn’t be fitting, everything ends the way it should. And the end credits have a wonderful song with a powerful effect that multiplies the emotions of the film as a whole. For me, one of the year’s best films.
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Another leisurely trip to the afflictions of old age and the desires of youth, and after Million Dollar Baby, another demonstration of Clint Eastwood's mastery. To obtain several excellent refutations of clichés, even while showing himself as the hero of the year, Clint once again defies cinematography according to his own principles. 90% and an unstoppable finish afterward.
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For his grand finale, Clint chose one of his best ever stories. The decrepit and permanently pissed Wall-E Kowalsky is also one of his most original characters. He deals out snappy lines and threats with style, beats Koreans in the face while even having time to mentor another (this time good) Korean. Eastwood planned everything carefully and his Gran Torino has a lot to say and manages at the same time to be entertaining to watch, sometimes making you laugh out loud and sometimes (mostly at the end) shed a tear. A picture that I would happily watch again anytime.
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