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Gran Torino is said to be the last movie for American icon Clint Eastwood who is just two years short of his 80^th birthday. Torino might not be the finest movie Eastwood has ever done but it is in every way memorable.

Eastwood plays an ex Korean War veteran, Walt Kowalski, who is a gun-toting, bigoted old man who uses his one-dimensional ego to avoid the loss of the only thing precious to him, his wife. Walt sticks to the stereotypical old hermit routine by keeping to himself, avoiding the racially mixed neighborhood he lives in, and often dropping racial slurs as he sits on his porch. The one real love left in his isolation is his precious 1972 Ford Gran Torino, hence the title. The shell Kowalski has built finally starts to buckle and break down when he saves a family of Hmongs (an Asian ethnic group pronounced Mong) from a gang while attempting to get back at their ‘little cousin’ for not stealing Walt’s Torino. The storyline unfolds as Walt is repaid by the family with the labor of two teens, an apparent Hmong tradition.

Newcomer Bee Vang plays Thao, the shy and withdrawn “little cousin” for whom the Hmong gang was after. I often felt that during the progress of the movie, Vang’s performance was a bit overdone, especially in a scene involving Walt locking him up. His voice reached near juvenile screams at times and it continued with some overdone pounding on the gate. Easily a sign of inexperience, but then again, it probably didn’t help that he was acting next to the legendary Eastwood. Vang is joined by Ahney Her (another newcomer) who performs adequately as Thao’s older sister Sue. I can’t help but feel that any lack in Sue’s part was the fault of her two-dimensional character, rather than her performance. Sue is the typical smart mouth, the wise-cracker that ultimately helps “Wally” discover his way.

Eastwood is easily the best thing in this movie. This might not come as a shock seeing as most of the supporting cast is only one step above extras. We not only see Eastwood’s character transform, we see him become something better as he takes Thao under his wing. Probably the most unforgettable part of the film is when he saves Sue from a group of thugs. Not only did he threaten the group of men with the childish finger-gun (have we seen that before?), but he also scares them with a stone-cold, “Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while that you shouldn’t have messed with? That’s me.” The only negative thing I can say about his performance is that he almost tries too hard with the bigotry. Often times the language he uses seems a bit excessive for the movie and his constant snarls almost seem too much. Even though it was on par with the subject matter of the film, I often found it hard to make out what he was saying.

As for the rest of the cast, especially the Hmong street thugs that play the antagonists of the film, their acting is especially shaky. If it wasn’t for Eastwood and performances by the few experienced members of the supporting cast, the film would be a complete disaster. At best, these shallow, formulaic street thugs are reminiscent of a Steven Segal straight-to-video movie. I was not shocked by any of those characters, neither did the actors’ performances particularly grab my attention like Eastwood does.

All in all this is a great film that portrays realistic characters struggling with racism, happiness, and morality. Gran Torino probably won’t get a Best Picture or Best Director for Eastwood, but you can pretty much guarantee a Best Actor nod come January 22^nd.

[xxr rating=3.5/5]