Eastwood! that should be all I have to say but for the sake of your entertainment (So I Hope) I will let you know my thoughts on it. Gran Torino is another classic from Clint Eastwood both in directing and acting. The story concerns Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) a Korean war veteran who's wife dies and his plan is to sit on his porch and live out the rest of his days. He dislikes his unambitious sons who are more inclined to have him in a retirement home and sell his house for the proceeds and his grandaughter who is a self indulged and disrespectful who hopes only to inherit his Ford Gran Torino which he helped assemble whilst working at Ford during his 30 year tenure. To his bitter disliking, a Hmong family move in next door and Walt passes them off as "Gooks and Chinks " and is ignorant of the fact that they fought along side the Americans in Korea. One of the local asian gangs target Thao (Bee Vang's first acting role) and make his initaitation to steal Walt's Gran Torino. When he is caught the family next door volunteer Thao to do odd jobs for Walt as amends and in the process Walt attempts to teach him how to become a man which results in Walt developing respect for the "Gooks" culture. The role of Thao's sister Sue is executed brilliantly by Ahney Her, another first time actress. After run is with the gang, Walt becomes hunter and hunted and the true Dirty Harry we have all seen comes to life. This is not your typical Hollywood guns blazing movie and the ending will leave you truly satisfied. On a lighter note, what fascinates me is how fit Eastwood is for his age- 78! I mean seriously this guy is almost 80 years old and is still better than 95% of todays actors. This is definitely an Oscar nomination for him. I loved the drama and humour in this movie and it truly shows you how people can warm to others especially in regard to racism. I urge ALL to see Gran Torino as it will definitely be in my top 10 of 2008 (Although not in Australian Cinemas for another 2 weeks). Magic Review: 9.1/10
