Starring: Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, John Carroll Lynch

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Warner Brothers Pictures

The Official Site of Gran Torino

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Clint Eastwood could totally kick my ass. He could totally kick the ass of most of us and deep down inside I think we all know that. I’d go as far as to say there’s a certain level of comfort that comes along with knowing this. We’ve grown accustom to the idea that, out there somewhere, is the ageless old badass who’s been protecting the city streets with an obnoxiously large hand gun and picking off black hats at high noon for what seems like our entire lives. What a relief it was to here he’d be returning to a character that allowed him to flex other muscles besides the ones needed to grit his teeth, even when it was revealed that he’d be doing so as a crank old racist keeping undesirable youths off his lawn.

Gran Torino, as much a love letter to a classic American car as it is a permission slip for old folks to get rowdy, tells the story of an unlikely pair of friends teaching each other about life and fending off lawn-ruining gangs. Eastwood plays Walt, a Korean War veteran who has just lost his wife and sees no reason to succumb to the ravages of old age. The neighborhood is falling apart around him in his eyes when really, it’s just been repopulated by a lot of Hmong-American. Thao lives next door and after trying to steal Walt’s car, as part of a gang initiation for a gang the kid didn’t really want to be in to begin with, the two find their lives suddenly pushed together.

Thao teaches Walt that not all immigrants are bad and that the youth of America isn’t a complete waste. Walt teaches Thao how to be a man and stand up for himself with his family, his work and his new problem of a gang that feels slighted and thirsty for revenge. On paper it sounds like a feel-good, life-lesson movie but Eastwood’s insistence to be the most difficult and unpleasant of anti-heroes is a constant reminder that this isn’t one of those movies of should bring the little ones too.

While Gran Torino delivered a lot of what I expected from the timeless hero, it proved to be a true test of expectation when it came to how the story was told. This movie cooks in terms of pacing. The groundwork is laid quickly in scenes that begin and end before you have time to really appreciate what was going on. I found myself yearning for the lingering moments I’ve become used to in Eastwood’s directorial work. I found myself wishing it would slow down a little so that I could appreciate the performances even though what I could catch from most of the cast I wanted nothing to do with. Be it the hurried story telling or the rookie cast it’s hard to ignore that some of these performances feel a little rushed and nearly every scene in the film comes off as forcibly staged.

As the movie zips along you barely notice the kind of film Gran Torino is becoming until it’s too late. Walt, a cranky old racist (which incidentally might as well be the working title of this film), embraces his old man stereotype making comments on the lazy youth, cell phones and lawn care. He’s insufferable and stubborn but you can't help but fall in love with him a little even though you know you shouldn’t. Walt’s offbeat take and reaction to the world began to ease me into a movie I didn't expect. Gran Torino isn't the classic epic drama we've come to expect from Eastwood, it's the break-out comedy of the holiday season. That's one of the biggest things I took from Torino - it's hilarious. And once you stop looking at it as a film that’s supposed to be he next Mystic River or Million Dollar Baby, the harder you'll laugh. Even if it is for the wrong reasons.

“Wrong� because the biggest laughs come from Walt being an insensitive old coot. Every other word out of his mouth was racist or offensive in a very "Oh, well Grandpa is from a different era so that makes it okay" (even though it doesn't) kind of way. It became this cadence of “I can’t believe he just said that!� every couple of minutes that at first took me off guard but eventually won me over. Still, that’s hard to justify. How do you celebrate someone that is either an ignorant old man from another time and place that doesn’t realize what he’s saying is, or a true jackass?

While we probably shouldn’t so willingly accept the idea of a crazy old racist being funny, I find it’s easiest to justify this as, “Clint could totally kick your ass� and just try to enjoy the film.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10 -Eastwood is a national treasure and I always look forward to his work. Even after the lengthy but lovely period drama Changeling from earlier this fall, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by Clint’s return to the front of the camera. Especially in a role that gives him the opportunity to kick in a few heads a deliver lines through gritted teeth. While Torio takes about 20 minutes to really settle in, it turned out to be as great as I’d hoped it would be, just in a very different way.

Okay so here’s the deal: Is it DVD worthy for me now? No. Will it be DVD worth in 30 years when I’m a irritable old sonofabitch? You bet your ass. There’s got to be a point in your life where all of those old-folks-are-people-too movies just make sense. It’s inevitable. At some point we will all own and cherish Space Cowboys

Going into this movie I knew that when it came to the comic I wanted to avoid any obvious jokes about Eastwood being too old too kick ass. We all know Clint is the man and even with a few extra wrinkles around the eyes, mouth, neck… everything… he can still promptly and efficiently kick all of our asses. I had the same sentiment this time last year when it came time to write the review for Rambo. Sure these guys are old but the era of “age� and “frailty� being mutually exclusive is fading away quickly.

I put those jokes out of my mind completely and made a similar decision when it came to Clint’s character being racist. The first joke I wrote after seeing the film involved Yeo and I talking about what our lives would be like when we’re that old. I would say something to the effect of, “We’d be lucky to be able to sit on the porch all day, drinking PBR and judging the damn Asian neighbors.� To which she of course would reply, “You know I’m Korean right?� After which I make it even more inappropriate by replying, “Yes, and it’s seriously affecting our sex life.� How delightfully awkward and uncomfortable subtle racism can be… I was quick to dismiss this joke.

I decided instead to go with the most primal reaction I had in the theaters – the wrinkles. I’d thought of this idea of Clint’s wrinkled neck resembling the Sarlacc pit from Return of the Jedi but had intended to just reference it in the review. After a few days of searching for a joke it hit me that it would work just as well if not better visually.

Truth be told I do wish that I’d been able to come up with something slightly more clever. Every movie deserves a better joke than, “He sure is wrinkly!� But sometimes it’s the oddest thing that will tickle your funny bone.

I thought t clip from funnyordie.com was worth linking to:

Over at Dueling analogs today you’ll find a guest strip by me involving two girls dreaming about marrying Super Mario. What little girl at one time or another hasn’t dreamt about that? DA is going through a guest comic period because its author Steve has a new little one to deal with. I wish him all the best and I beseech you to head on over and check out his strip.

And if you like videogame comics don’ forget about the new one that Phil and I have started up. We’d been doing a once a week schedule to get through the holidays but you should expect a double dose this week as well as a new Matriculated and a couple more JLCM strips. Probably for Bride Wars and something else I’ve not determined yet.

Lasty, be sure to swing by The Triple Feature tonight where we’ll be discussing some of the latest releases and the big winners and losers from last night Golden Globes. Thanks so much for reading!