Rating: R | Runtime: 116 minutes
Release Date: December 12th, 2008 (USA)
Studio: Warner Bros.
Director(s): Clint Eastwood
Writer(s): Nick Schenk / Dave Johannson & Nick Schenk (story)

Why does everyone want my car?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big Clint Eastwood as director fan. Mystic River was one of my favorite films from its release year and Million Dollar Baby deserved much of its acclaim, if not the actual best picture Oscar. However, Gran Torino is getting crazy unwarranted buzz. It hasn’t even opened wide yet and already ranks #184 of all-time on IMDB. I’ll agree that it is a good movie, well composed and paced with a fantastic final act; I just can’t quite allow myself to call it a masterpiece.

As I said, I’m a fan of Eastwood the director—not necessarily Eastwood the actor. His performance as Walt won’t be changing that mindset. I found myself laughing at his growls and scowls more often than feeling fear or menace. He isn’t the only one at fault, though; I think everyone falls pretty flat acting-wise here. I’ll give the Hmong characters some slack being that they aren’t trained actors—and kudos to the filmmakers for going that route—but Eastwood, the priest (a very uninspired Christopher Carley), and even a couple good actors as Walt’s sons in very limited roles detracted from a solid story.

What I liked about Gran Torino was its humor. You may be thinking: what is this guy talking about? But honestly, I laughed a lot and think it was intentional. The first three-quarters set-up the climax to be powerfully dramatic with deserved weight, so there needs to be an infusion of levity to keep us off-guard once the bottom finally falls out. I wouldn’t be surprised if Clint decided to act as Walt rather than find a better actor because he just wanted to have fun with racial epithets—boy there are plenty. His utter disregard for the opinions of those he insults and his overly tough exterior just made the words funny to me.

Many times he’s saying these things because that is “how men talk” with friends. His camaraderie with folks allows him the freedom to act like a bigot without recourse, (my favorite character in the film is one of these men, John Carroll Lynch’s barber, who’s involved in a priceless scene with Clint and Bee Vang as Thao), and that lightness makes his under-the-breath tirades “acceptable.” Now, they aren’t acceptable as far as societal right and wrong, but his character is built to be an old and bitter Korean War vet, so you almost have to give him the benefit of the doubt. In his mind, the country he fought for is now being over-run by those he was ordered to kill. Seeing the denigration of his neighborhood and the utter lack of respect from the current generation paints the simple picture that it’s a result of immigration.

This humor, I believe, is what makes the ending so effective. Eastwood goes through a transformation from old man that wants to be left alone to old man that finally has someone he can protect. Does it change his attitude or demeanor? Absolutely not. Does Eastwood have the acting range to make that evolution apparent on screen when necessary? Probably not. So, let’s say it was good that, while he softened to the Asians living next door, he never let his guard down because that would have come off as inauthentic and manipulative. By getting to understand Walt Kowalski’s character, however, we can believe he would do what he does.

Never clicking with his own sons to be a father to them and to be listened to about his experiences made him distant. Coming into the life of a traditional Hmong family, on-the-other-hand, allows him to finally feel that patriarchal duty. Ahney Her’s Sue tells Walt that she wishes her own father were more like him because he was too old-school for a boy like Thao. Walt is confused thinking that he is set in the old ways too, but Sue shows the cultural disparity by saying, “but you’re American.” The customs and way of life are different, and, after all these years blaming the Orient for making him into a killer and sinner, Walt can open his eyes to the humanity they all share.

While the gang backdrop just stands as a way to give Walt a measure of redemption, it is the main catalyst for everything that happens in. He never would have gotten to know the Lor family if Thao wasn’t made to steal his Gran Torino as a gang initiation and the conclusion never would have happened if the bond between him and Sue and Thao hadn’t sprung from that event. The film is not about the opposition and violence of those street thugs, though. It’s about the relationship between Walt and Thao. While the script does wonders at making that friendship work, the acting doesn’t quite do it justice.

Again, I found myself laughing each time Clint scowls at the boy—it was too over-the-top. Unfortunately for Bee Vang, his delivery comes across as staged and reading from a prompter. He’s young, though, and an inexperienced actor, so I can’t blame him too much. I blame Eastwood instead, especially in one instance when Vang is locked in the old man’s basement and screaming at Clint to let him out. The anger and frustration is so forced that the director should have known when to cut. Yet Eastwood not only shows the pounding on the door once, but also a second time once he comes back into frame to explain what it feels like to kill a man. This time he lingers on the boy even longer. It’s a moment that brings an amateur quality to an otherwise stellar tale, making the sub-par performances overshadow the tightly constructed plot.

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Thao (BEE VANG) and Walt Kowalski (CLINT EASTWOOD) in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ drama “Gran Torino,” distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Photo by Anthony Michael Rivetti.