Gran Torino

Hard to believe this movie's already five years old, but here it is. Gran Torino was the "biggest" movie from the last decade that I'd never seen, according to IMDb popularity metrics. (That new honor belongs to The Bourne Ultimatum, which I have far less interest in ever seeing.) When I pointed this out to two friends, months ago, each of them told me independently that I really had to see it. And they were right, and I'm glad I did. Clint Eastwood is a gruff, angry, retired racist. He grunts "get off my lawn!" and points his shotgun at minorities from time to time. His wife has just died and his kids and grandkids are ungrateful and distant. He is a Korean War veteran still stubbornly hanging around a declining Detroit neighborhood quickly filling up with poor folks and gang violence. He's a fascinating character, really, in that he is every bit the stereotypical "bitter angry old man" trope, but he's portrayed as an utter badass and a small-time hero. He's Clint Eastwood, after all.

The first half of the film sees our protagonist spewing vitriolic racism at the neighborhood kids who are up to no good, and it had an interesting effect on me as a viewer. On the one hand, the degree of his contempt for Asians and black kids made me uncomfortable by default. On the other, these kids were doing things like stealing cars and assaulting women, so I couldn't help but think, "yeah, you tell those fuckers off!" as he laced into them with profanities and slurs. But - back to the other hand - I caught myself smiling as an old white guy berated minorities and immediately went back to feeling uncomfortable. Was this a rare peak at some underlying latent racism? Or - with these kids clearly in the wrong and my enjoyment coming largely from them being put in line, derogatorily or otherwise - was this a case of white guilt? Like, was I supposed to be upset with Eastwood's character's racism, or glad to see some vigilante justice? Or was that part of the movie's thematic intent? To make me waver uncomfortably on race issues? To force me to see the hero as a deeply flawed hero at best?

I'm probably overthinking it. Sadly, most of the rest of the movie wasn't even worth thinking about. It was entertaining and touching enough, but from the halfway point or so, Gran Torino stopped being a character study of an old cranky would-be hero and started being a story about an old man becoming a reluctant father figure to the poor Asian kid next door. It all ended way too quickly (which is a compliment in a way, considering how many contemporary movies drag on and wear out their welcome during the second act) and frankly felt a little contrived. I'm supposed to believe that this unapologetic angry racist who ignores and detests his own progeny would ultimately come to love this Chinese teenager with gang ties next door? It's touching and all, but - call me cynical - none of it rang true to the initial incarnation of Eastwood's character. And I'm all for character development, but there's a limit. If you're going to start with a 78-year-old widower who's openly hated Asians since the 1950s and end up with a 78-year-old willing to risk his life for the sake of his Asian neighbor, you better tell a hell of a convincing story that gets us from Point A to Point B. And I don't think Gran Torino quite succeeded on that mark.

Of course, by pointing out shortcomings, I don't mean to detract from the film as a whole. Gran Torino was interesting and engaging, and that's all it takes to be a special movie worth seeing.