Whenever the year ends with a Clint Eastwood movie, it usually spells Oscar threat to all other films. In the case of “Gran Torino” it’s no different. The story opens at the funeral of the wife of Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) where it’s quite clear he’s not happy about the current state of our world, cringing at simple things that annoy him like his granddaughter’s belly ring or the fact that a tweny-nine year old Priest calls him “Walt” instead of Mr. Kowalski. Or the Jews, or the Chinese or the Puerto Ricans, and well, you get it. But there’s one thing all these people have in common: Their love for Mr. Kowalski’s 1972 Gran Torino, a car he’s restored and preserved in his garage for decades. But when his Vietnamese neighbors are assaulted in some ongoing neighborhood gang wars, Kowalski can’t help but slowly get involved. At the center of the mess, and being victimized, is a young man named Thao (Bee Vang) and his sister, Sue (Ahney Her) a throwback to the ‘good’ kids of Kowalski’s days that understood discipline and values, despite the fact that they’re ‘Gooks.’ That’s when Kowalski realizes he has more in common with this very family he once was a bigot over, then he does with his own spoiled and grownup kids. It’s also when his history in the Korean War kicks in, bringing this movie to a bitter sweet ending in Kowalski’s quest to redeem himself with a great twist. The Eastwood theme rings true in this film much like it did in “Unforgiven” where Eastwood takes a man torn between right and wrong, but is pushed over the edge into violence, all for the sake of a woman. A simple little story with a big meaning and one of the year’s best, as expected, because it’s Clint. Four tiaras
