ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies

CLINT EASTWOOD has hinted that Gran Torino might be his last film as an actor. He will be 79 this year and there are fewer and fewer scripts that attract his interest. If this is his swansong then it couldn’t be a better one.

Gran Torino is a powerful melodrama that cannily reconciles the vigilante ethos of Eastwood’s most iconic roles with his more recent reflections on the folly of violence and the evil that men do.

Eastwood seems to be enjoying himself enormously as Walt Kowalski, a man who combines the worst qualities of Dirty Harry and Alf Garnett. A retired car plant worker and Korean war veteran, he has long ago concluded that his country and his neighbourhood have gone to hell.

His worst fears are confirmed when his Korean-American neighbour Thao (Bee Vang) attempts to steal his beloved 1972 Ford Gran Torino. Thao has been bullied into his crime by a local gang. The boy’s punishment is community service in the company of grumpy old Walt, but that is enough to start a friendship that will transform both their lives.

Gran Torino sounds predictable and a little maudlin, but Eastwood has some surprises in store as the film’s jocularity gives way to a much darker story.

Eastwood’s politically incorrect curmudgeon helps to keep the sentimentality at bay, and the film is both immensely entertaining and quietly touching as it addresses issues that Hollywood tends to avoid, like all-American racism, the indignities of old age and the nature of true heroism. An absolute must if you have ever been a Clint Eastwood fan.

Nationwide release

Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, Christopher Carley, John Carroll Lynch, Brian Haley
Screenwriter: Nick Schenk
Certificate: 15
Running time: 116 mins
Country:  USA
Year: 2008