Slashing The Seats

Despite rumours that this is his final acting gig, Clint manages to stay nicely understated in Gran Torino and it’s to his credit that despite Academy disdain, Gran Torino has gone on to become his most succesful film. Just as Unforgiven put The Man With No Name neatly to bed, this plays out like a resolution to the Dirty Harry films – and a far better one than The Dead Pool at that.

The film is a nice deconstruction of the right wing values those films espoused, with newly-widowed Walt Kowalski bemoaning the collapse of America, unable to get over the prejudice he picked up in Vietnam and only letting his feelings show when a family of Hmong immigrants move in next door. In the background, there’s an uncaring family led by two self-obsessed sons who want him in a care home. Unable to express himself or connect, Kowalski spends his time at home with his dog and a rifle for company and the car of the title sitting gathering dust in the garage.

Until, that is, neighbour’s son Thao gets involved with a local gang and tries to steal that self-same car as an initiation prank. When things go pear-shaped, he’s forced to help Kowalski out and it’s cue the violins as the old man thaws and begins to relate to his new community and, as the gang situation escalates, finally finds something else worth fighting for.

This is all territory that’s covered on a thousand TV movies a year, so it’s testament to Clint’s continued talent that it rises far above these melodramatic roots and often poorly sketched characters – something the writing for the gang members is particularly guilty of – to become a lean, compelling story that has the power to both excite and move.

Clint’s portrayal is note perfect, unashamedly playing his age to the point that, despite the sneering tough-guy whisper, we often worry whether he’ll make it through the third act. Playing up to, and subverting his image may have become a stock-in-trade for Eastwood in recent years, but that doesn’t make it any less compelling. Here we want him to kick ass and we feel bad when the creaking joints and bad back turn our hero into just another grumpy old man. This is audience manipulation on the meta scale of course, but that doesn’t undermine it’s effectiveness.

That said, Gran Torino isn’t a great film. Its plot is too hackneyed and heart-string-tugging too obvious to cement classic status. But the central performance and straightforward direction make it well worth a watch. If this is Eastwood’s final screen appearance, then it’s a solid if faintly ridiculous final bow.

Tweet This!