During the press junket for 2004’s Oscar-winning “Million Dollar Baby” Eastwood hinted that he was done with acting…unless a juicy role came up, it finally did with “Gran Torino.” His Directing gigs have been equally impressive and proven to be one of the key components of his continued success. His acting roles have become increasingly sparse over the years, none since “Baby,” as he has taken on challenging directing duties including, “Flags of Our Fathers,” “The Changeling,” “Mystic River,” and “Letters From Iowa Jima.” Clint Eastwood has been one of those few actors who can play themselves with a little bit of character thrown in instead of the other way around. James Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracy, Cary Grant and especially John Wayne all played characters that were fit to their respective personas. Eastwood has branched out and tried different characters; one of the few working actors today that has worked in every single film genre, but porno; none of the names mentioned above can boast such an accomplishment. From drama in “The Beguiled,” to romance in “The Bridges of Madison Country,” to horror in: “Creature Walks Among Us,” &“Play Misty for Me,” to musicals, “Paint Your Wagon” to comedies, “Every Which Way but Loose” & “Any Which Way You Can, to war, “Where Eagles Dare,” to action, “The Gauntlet,” to thrillers, “Dirty Harry,” and “In the Line of Fire” to action fare like; “Firefox,” “Space Cowboys” and especially the westerns; Dollar trilogy, “High Planes Drifter,” Outlaw Josey Wales,” “Pale Rider” and “Unforgiven.” Some classics to be sure, but like any actor, he’s made some turds; “Joe Kidd” a forgettable western with it’s only distinction was it co-starred Robert Duvall. The hackneyed and sentimental to a sickening degree, “Bronco Billy” frustrated even my father who was a die-hard Eastwood whore. The actor ended the 1980’s with a strange comedy called “Pink Cadillac” that was beaten to death at the box-office by the third Indiana Jones movie and critics were equally merciless. He entered the new decade with the horrible buddy cop action thriller 1990’s “The Rookie” co-starring Charlie Sheen and ended the decade with the less than impressive “Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil,” co-starring his daughter Allison with Clint Directing only, audiences stayed away and critics were unimpressed. Despite the flops, they’ve never poised a serious threat to his rock-solid popularity that has turned him into an American institution. Like all acting icons, he created a familiar persona; his best known character types have almost always been the grumpy, profane pragmatist that is usually misunderstood and wants to be left alone, yet when pushed; he’ll fight the good fight. An asshole on the surface, he knows an injustice when he sees it, like Harry Callahan, is compelled to do something. “Gran Torino’s” Walt Kowalski fits that persona, but with a twist as a bigoted retired auto worker who we meet on the worst day of his life; at the funeral of his beloved wife. He’s the last white guy in his neighborhood and much to his chagrin living next door to a Korean family; Walt doesn’t care much for anyone or anything anymore except a cold beer on his porch, beef jerky, his dog Daisy and his vintage 1972 Gran Torsion that he polishes like a symbol of his idealized past now lost. His anger is aimed mostly at his Korean, (Hmong) neighbors who he feels have run the neighborhood down and they bring back memories of his time in the Korean War that he would rather forget. In an effort to get Thao into their gang, the hoods instigate a scuffle that lands them in Kowalski’s yard, who is more than happy to shove his rifle in their faces, which puts a twist on the old man cliché when Walt growls, “GET OFF MY LAWN!” The gang bangers vow their revenge while the Hmong neighbors deem Walt hero showering him with flowers, beer and food. He’s at first annoyed, but slowly begins to understand Thao’s plight, Sue tells him two things happen to Hmong males, they either end up dead or in jail. Slowly Walt assumes a fatherly role to the boy and the two become friends as Walt’s wisdom steers the boy away from gang temptation. “Gran Torino’s” Walt Kowalski is Eastwood’s best performance since the fire-breathing gunslinger, Will Munny in his Oscar-winning western masterpiece, “Unforgiven.” The film may not set box-office records or tell us any new profundities of life, but what it does do is show a master still at the top of his game. It’s astonishing to see Eastwood as vibrant and powerful as ever, when most people his age, 78, are shitting in their diapers or dead, it’s a testament to the guy’s endurance that he can still keep his career in high gear, do the work of men half his age and deliver quality work. The obvious joy of the film is Clint’s performance Directing himself, he shows off his sense of humor, giving Walt a sly sense of wit with impeccable timing, dropping some excellent one-liners (especially at the hoods harassing Sue) amongst the slurs his humor takes the sting out of his angry words. He plays a variation on a theme of hard-asses that have made him famous over the years, he’s deconstructing what it means to be a macho American male, echoes of his iconic role as Dirty Harry Callahan are heard throughout, so much so that before the film went into production, rumors swirled it was a fifth Callahan sequel. Kowalski’s rage represents holding on too tightly to the past and to social norms that no longer exist or at least are no longer accepted by the general masses. We quickly see Walt is a man disturbed by the changes his life is going through. He spews distasteful epithets, he growls and snarls his words, but he’s clearly a man drowning, having lost his wife, his life is slowing losing as he goes down swinging. So many guys from Walt’s generation were conditioned into thinking that bigotry was harmless and a few racial jokes every now and then are funny. Walt isn’t a racist; he’s just an ignorant, angry old bigot who is very unhappy with his lot in life when we first meet him. He’s a man of his times and as the times changed, like many others, Walt was left behind. He refuses any attempt at civility with his neighbors, content to sit on his porch with his dog, drink cold beer and eat beef jerky until one day he witnesses some wannabe gang bangers playing grabass with Sue, one of his Hmong neighbors. In one of the film’s best scenes, Clint growls yet another iconic line, "Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while that you shouldn't have messed with? That's me." A great scene that shows Walt does have a sense of justice and is changing, he’s not the grumpy old man his children have labeled him.
Much to Walt’s surprise, he takes a liking to Sue, he likes her intelligence, good humor and tough spirit; they form an avuncular bond as she fills him full of beer and food and introduces him to her family and her brother Thou, a shy kid, who Walt derisively calls “Toad” after he learns of the boy’s thwarted gang initiation of trying to steal his Torino. Slowly Walt comes out of his shell, the racial remarks go away and are replaced with relationships with his neighbors as he discovers he has a purpose again, meaning and goodness slowly creeps back into his life. One of the best scenes of Clint’s deconstruction is Walt and Thao in the barbershop with Walt telling the boy he needs to “Man-up” and proceeds to skewer several male conventions and clichés with great relish; a very funny scene as Clint shows his flair for the profane; a poet at work. The scenes main objective is obvious; to show what how most of the time, the male ego and bigotry go very closely together and what a colossal waste of time it is to engage in either, but most of all it underscores the bond between Walt and the Thao. Call it coincidence, call it fate, but the film fortuitously enough plays out very much like a western. From the way Nick Schenk’s screenplay introduces the characters, to the bad guys motivation all way to the revenge angle and the ultimate act of sacrifice by Clint’s character; the movie’s beats are very similar to the best the genre has to offer, including Clint’s early gem, “The Outlaw Josey Wales.” Although it’s fairly predictable where the film will take you, Eastwood and his cast of mainly unknowns will guarantee an enjoyable ride. Working very much like John Wayne in his final film, “The Shootist,” both characters are dying of cancer make sure they go out on their own terms. Director Eastwood makes sure his final film role has him going out in with a literal bang; an ironic connection considering the Director, Don Siegel was Clint’s mentor and close friend who directed the orignial“Dirty Harry.” Eastwood directs a cast of mainly unknowns into nice, nuanced performances without strident emotional grandstanding or P. C. thuggery. Ahney Her as Sue steals all her scenes with Clint, as she’s quick-witted, smart and strong-willed and takes no guff from Walt’s acid tongue. Bee Vang as the shy Thao is good, his early scenes of reluctance, fear of his gang-banging cousin, Spider are affecting. Many may object to some of the insults Kowalski says throughout the film, but it’s all part of the character’s journey. A bigot is not the same as racist, bigots just want to be left alone, but can usually be reformed and enlightened; racists are full of hate and generally stay that way. Kowalski is not a hateful guy, just pissed off that the world he was comfortable with is crumbling away. In order to tell an honest story, the character has to speak like a real person if he didn’t the point of the story would be negated. If the viewer knows that going it, it won’t be quite a shock. Although I’m still not sure what a “Zipperhead” is, (I thought it was a punk band), but I do know that “Fishhead” is the least offensive slur, ever. “Gran Torino” may not offer some insightful treatise on man’s inability to get along, but it does offer some fine acting and directing from a legend that at nearly 80 could kick everyone’s ass any day of the week and three times on Sunday. Oscar season should be kind to the Old Man as he will likely win for Best Actor, deservedly so as it would be the proper reward for a long and fascinating acting career.
Fuck you, Spike Lee!