****If you were to thumb through the dictionary to find the definition for "bad-ass", you would probably see a picture of Clint Eastwood. Gran Torino is Eastwood's latest film, and it shows the Man from Malpaso at his best as an actor and director. In the last four years, Eastwood stayed out of frame and behind the camera with his two WWII epics, Flags of our Fathers, Letters From Iwo Jima, and Changeling. Now, Eastwood stars as Walt Kowalski: a cantankerous Korean War vet battling with his past demons while playing the reluctant mentor to a kid (Bee Vang), who tried to steal his prized possession, a 1972 Gran Torino.
Kowalski lives in internal isolation and sheer bitterness. Besides telling racist jokes over a bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon and a shot of whisky, he finds salvation in fixing up his house and staying away from his careless offspring. After stopping his new neighbor, a timid Asian teenager, from stealing his Gran Torino, Kowalski puts him through a rigorous regimen of hard work and learning how to advocate himself from the gang bangers that live in the neighborhood.
It may seem like a cliched story, but when it comes to having an actor like Eastwood going through an emotional gauntlet of redemption with his M1 rifle in his hand, you cannot bare to miss the experience. Eastwood gets you right in the jugular by blending the violence and loneliness of life with the use of sharp contrasts in lighting, slow establishment shots, and an ominous score by Kyle Eastwood, Clint's son.
Clint has always been asked if he was going to do another Dirty Harry movie. Besides pulling a Schwarzenegger or Harrison Ford, Eastwood's portrayal of Walt Kowalski makes Harry Callahan look like a socialist pansy. At 78, Eastwood shows no signs of weakness in his acting and directing; he is an unstoppable force with as much coolness and attitude than his '72 Gran Torino.
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