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Gran Torino is directed by and stars Clint Eastwood as a virulently racist war veteran who, after losing his wife, is evaluating his life against the backdrop of a neighborhood that is becoming almost exclusively non-white. His particular street is inhabited by Hmong people. I found the film uneven. The first half was weak, and spent far too long establishing him as a racist when it would have been evident in just one scene. The familial interactions were over the top. The second half, though, was very good, and the relationships between the various characters climaxed well. I found the film to be enjoyable on the whole. I'd rate the first half a 2.5, the second half a 4.5, and give it a 3.5 on the whole. I would recommend seeing this movie without googling about the Hmong or reading about the specific actors in this movie, as I feel it will take away from the film (reason: I went in with the knowledge that none of these guys had ever acted before, and it was a big distraction for me personally.)
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Dec 13, 2008 04:40
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It was a lot better than I expected it to be, and Clint is perfect as a grizzled racist old badass. The racism was a wee bit too forced, but the M1 Garand scenes and "Get off my lawn" made up for it. 4/5
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Dec 14, 2008 07:43
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Apart from being a movie seemingly made with TFR explicitly in mind, this is a pretty amazing thing to come from Clint Eastwood. I mean the guy's nearly eighty years old and the only person other than Woody Allen anything close to an American auteur. The humor's a little thick at points, but I rather suspect that this is bait on the hook for the more conservative viewers whose horizons Clint is aiming to expand. 4/5
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Dec 18, 2008 05:12
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I liked most every part of the movie, and that is where I have to criticize it. Everything was by-the-numbers, feel good, crowd pleaser material. There was absolutely nothing challenging going on here. I laughed when I was supposed to laugh, I said "gently caress Yeah!" when I was supposed to say "gently caress Yeah!" and I got emotional when I was supposed to. That said, it was about as good as it's formulaic nature allows. Sue and Thao both had moments where their lack of experience showed. 3.5/5
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Dec 18, 2008 23:33
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Clint did a great job. I think way too many people just label him as racist. That's not really his character. He's a classic 50s American. Worked in a factory his whole life. Fought in the Korean War and was decorated. Yeah he calls asians "fish heads" and blacks "spooks" but to solely define him as a racist is to misunderstand his character completely. He's worked hard his whole life, and is intolerant of selfishness and meekness, and doesn't take and poo poo from anyone about anything. I think what is great is that he also embodies that ignorance in a lot of people. Using racist terms until he actually gets to know people of a minority and even liking them. Yeah he still calls the kid a zipper-head, but it's almost in an endearing, nickname kind of way. That said I have to agree that the acting of the neighbors is subpar in parts. It's really noticable but Clint keeps it together. Also, I was really hoping for a big shootout at the end, but I like the ending as it is. It shows that he's changing even as old and set in his ways as he is. 4/5
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Dec 22, 2008 03:14
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I watched this expecting another hardass TFR style Eastwood movie but was surprised to see it wasn't. It turned out to be a formulaic drama/action flick with nothing really special aside from Clint's acting. Too bad it was the typical "ignorant rear end in a top hat learns and changes his ways and probably dies doing it". Still, can't say I didn't enjoy it. 3/5
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Dec 25, 2008 11:13
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I am not a huge Clint Eastwood fan. That doesn't mean that I don't like him. I am just not someone who get excited about his films. "Gran Torino? That's the one where he is old and angry and they try to steal his car, right?" Yeah, that's the one. Really though, its a generational friendship movie. And it's a movie about growing. Clint Eastwood plays the best angry old man you have ever seen in this movie. I lost his wife and lives alone in the Hmong ghetto. He doesn't get along with his two sons or their families. He doesn't like the priest who keeps coming to check up on him, trying to get him to come back to church because his late-wife made the priest promise that he would try. The boy who lives next door is harassed in to trying to still the old man's Gran Torino by his gang-banger cousin. He gets caught by the old man, but escapes. Later he is forced to work for the old man by his mother as a way to make good on their honor. The two fast become friends and so on. I won't go on farther with the plot because I would be giving too much away. In short, this movie has great characterization and character growth. The acting is pretty spot on by just about everyone, especially Clint Eastwood. I thought that the story gets a little predictable towards the end, but it still very well written and very delivered. This is one of those films that you really don't have to like dramas to like. Just like Shawshank Redemption or Stand by Me, I think most everyone will enjoy this film. Probably not as their favorite film of all, or even of the year. But it's still good. 4/5
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Dec 26, 2008 02:53
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I can't believe there are people that complain about liking the film. I was expecting a heavy, politically charged film and I was pleasantly surprised by a film about friendship and loyalty. There were parts I burst out laughing and parts I was on the edge of my seat. Formula or no, acting experience be damned, you learn to enjoy all of the main characters and that was Clint's goal. I enjoyed it immensely. 5/5
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Dec 28, 2008 19:55
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Liked it a lot more than I thought. Clint Eastwood had me rolling half the time with his complete and utter disregard for the feelings of everyone else, but I really enjoyed the progression of the story. And man, what a sweet ride. 4/5
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Jan 3, 2009 06:57
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Clint Eastwood is still a badass. Wow, this was pretty drat good and I enjoyed it very much. If you have the time I recommend it. For being as old as he is, he directs and gives a stellar performance. 4/5
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Jan 6, 2009 14:39
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I think that Eastwood does a good job in the tear jerkers he directs. This movie was somewhat predictable and cookie cutter, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a movie that used racism in a way that doesn't guilt you by hanging a social message over your head. A little rough around the edges, but I still wholly liked the movie. I liked the old Hmong lady on the porch next door. 4/5
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Jan 11, 2009 04:16
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I agree that the first half was a little slow. I love Clint and his gruff one-liners but he verbalized every goddamn plot point, aloud, to the point where it was almost irritating. I really dislike it when the filmmakers have a character explain something to the audience ("I have more in common with these gooks than I do my own family," etc.) because that was clearly obvious anyway. Still, it's amazing that the man is almost 80 and still this competent an actor and a director. The film was tightly made and well-written: not too preachy, but it had a moral core. I *really* enjoyed the casting as it felt like a movie about real people, not actors. Some of the violence was a little exaggerated (Detroit is awful but its not a dystopian gangland), but in the end, this was a solid film. 4/5
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Jan 12, 2009 06:05
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This movie’s great when it's a dark comedy about racism. Unfortunately, this is counterbalanced by it being painful to sit through when it tries to be dramatic, almost piercing the barrier into unintentional hilarity. Almost none of the cast has acting experience except Eastwood, and it repeatedly shows. The Hmong daughter's performance is especially excruciating, as if she is reading for a high school play in front of the camera. Meanwhile, Christopher Carley's completely wooden delivery, considering he's an experienced actor, is simply inexcusable. The film's sense of morality is just utterly bizarre. Eastwood makes fast friends of people that he takes every opportunity to verbally abuse with racial slurs, even when he likes them. Walt's wife is dead, and the movie spends about ten seconds dwelling on it before moving on to how amusing a bitter, racist old codger like Walt can be. As an audience, we are asked to root for the hard-nosed and stone cold Walt, but at the same time we're encouraged to keep our distance from his unapologetic bigotry and ancient sense of reality. Walt is alienated from his family, but the film somehow concludes that this is the family's fault. The fact that Walt has apparently carried a heart of ice for the past sixty years has nothing to do with it. This film would be a disaster without Eastwood holding it up in every single scene. No one else can play the part. No one else can even make the script work. But this is because it might as well have been called 'Dirty Harry: The Final Voyage.' Eastwood is basically resting on his reputation of playing hard-asses, and letting the audience vicariously re-live the glory days of his film career, perhaps as a reward for enduring the film's other disappointing performances. His presence on-screen consumes that of all the other weak, soul-less supporting characters. Eastwood seems to visibly relish every moment of playing that famous caricature of himself. He’s extremely good at it, and he knows it. It's the only real reason to see this movie. The movie tops off with a ballad sung by Eastwood himself, a final, lasting act of unintentionally comedic vanity that I wouldn’t have guessed he had in him. This had the noteworthy effect of creating cricket chirp levels of silence in the otherwise boisterous audience I had around me, as if they were as disbelieving as I was. Gran Torino takes it upon itself to try and educate everyone on racism, Hmong communities, minorities in general, the war of wills between young and old, actual wars, and even male identity. Most of these subjects are treated flippantly, aside from Walt's crisis of age and the internal workings of Hmong-American families. Even then, Walt's family is full of caricatures who may as well have been written out and off after the first few scenes, the Hmong alone becoming his source of personal salvation. Everything else is kicked to the curb so that Eastwood can be Eastwood. The film educates, but it never explores. 3/5
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Jan 12, 2009 20:45
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This movie suffers from poor writing and downright awful acting, and it addresses sophisticated topics in a really superficial way - read into it even a little deeply and you'll tear it apart. If you can get past these seemingly critical flaws, you've got on your hands a loving hilarious and highly rewatchable movie that might be the best one I've seen in theaters from '08. Clint Eastwood is like a racist Sawyer from Lost, scowling at everything, berating everyone, tossing nicknames around like they're going out of style, and generally being a individualistic prick. The problems with this movie were enough to keep a lot of people from appreciating the great parts of it, which I understand. I loved it. 4/5 Pancho fucked around with this message at 05:01 on Jan 13, 2009 |
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Jan 13, 2009 04:57
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I watched this movie last night and it was terrible. Seeing Clint Eastwood is the only reason to watch this movie, but its not a dramatically different role than in Million Dollar Baby and the dialogue is so terrible, both as a product of the surrounding "talent" and a week script that it made me want to be tranquilized. I later found out that only one of the Hmong actors had any acting experience, which is painfully obvious every time they speak. The priest in the movie delivers lines no better, making Paul Dano from There Will Be Blood look like a goddamn acting superstar. Every line of dialogue is a distracting mess, whether its terrible acting or the repetitive, unbelievable and downright bizarre characterization of Eastwood's character. The editing/direction is also a joke, a rarity for an Eastwood film. The chronology of the movie is arbitrary and only conveyed when characters make specific reference to the amount of time that has passed. Absolutely one of the worst serious movies I've ever seen. 1/5
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Jan 17, 2009 23:05
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Very, very good movie. It never got boring and it actually had some funny moments in what is supposed to be a drama. The Hmong actors and actresses held their own pretty well, and while it was a formulaic movie it was still pretty entertaining. Nothing thought provoking but I definitely wasn't disappointed and I can recommned you see it.
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Jan 18, 2009 08:24
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Some of the lines and acting by the neighboring asian sister, brother, and priest made me cringe. Clint Eastwood barely makes this watchable. 2/5
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Jan 25, 2009 10:53
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This is a fantastic loving movie. There were a few scenes where the inexperience of the Hmong actors showed through, but they were few and far between. Eastwood is a crack-up as a grizzled rascist, and the ending was completely unexpected. This totally makes up for Million Dollar Baby. Anyone who doesn't like this movie is a pussy. 5/5
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Jan 26, 2009 13:31
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1/5 Only saving grace is Eastwood, the rest was heavy handed crap. Gran Torino is the new Crash
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Feb 3, 2009 22:00
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As others have mentioned the acting was sub par and the movie is quite dynamic. You don't really know what to expect and it is a bit surprising at parts. I felt it was well worth the watch but I wouldn't give it as much praise as some of you. It should have been a bit more consistent. I was fine with things being over exaggerated or forced. But it does a complete 180 at more than a couple parts. Stars - Clint Eastwood being Clint Eastwood 3.5/5
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Feb 15, 2009 00:59
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Its a shame that a movie that made me laugh so much also made me want to stab my ears out. The main girls attempt to portray her supposedly smart and spunky character is a calamity and does nothing but make Eastwood's interactions with her less believable. The boy as well failed miserably when attempting to show any sort of emotion, coming off as forced and fake. "Don't leave me in here, AHHHHHH" I enjoyed Eastwood's acting and where the story went, but the fact he thinks a good movie can be made with a cast incapable of showing any personality is beyond me. Seems like he's just screwing around, having fun, and not really caring about the final product. Lastly, Eastwood sounds like a Muppet when he sings, and I don't know how I didn't burst out laughing. A good movie if you are board, craving some Eastwood, or can pretend its a comedy. 3/5
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Feb 16, 2009 01:32
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Just about got through this film without giving up and in all honesty it was only because of Clint. The story itself it pretty clichéd but thats not the end of the world. What really kills, no sorry brutally murders this is film is the atrocious attempts at acting but the Hmong kids. It's a shame really it might have been an ok film with some decent actors but as is it's just awkward watching these kids blurt out lines and look nervously at the camera. 1.5/5 the 1.5 is for Clint and thats all. Patient_Toffee fucked around with this message at 09:03 on Jul 9, 2009 |
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Mar 6, 2009 13:50
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I just finished watching this and I must admit after the first 25 minutes I was tempted to turn it off. When the kid was banging on the door to the basement, it made me cringe. That was just God-awful acting. I did eventually manage to get into it but the acting just.. ruins it. 2/5
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Mar 8, 2009 23:36
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I thought this movie was terrible. The dialogue made me cringe and the acting was embarrassing. The plot was predictable - and not the good kind of predictable. It was grating and drawn out and extra clichéd. The one redeeming event was when the movie ended. 1/5
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Mar 23, 2009 23:43
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Terrible movie if it weren't for the novelty of Clint Eastwood dropping racial epitaphs for almost 2 hours. The moral is shoved down my throat, the acting is subpar, the lines over explain every little ethical detail. The gangsters look like they should be in High School High...yeah, that's a Jon Lovitz reference. And still: 1 for Clint, 1 for the few scenes that made me laugh. 2/5
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Mar 25, 2009 18:35
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I greatly enjoyed this movie, and it got me talking to my dad more. While not Eastwood's best, I would say that this is a great film that should be given the acclaim that it's due. 4/5
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Apr 1, 2009 08:43
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If the second half of the film were as good as the first half the movie would have been considered bland and left unliked by most. It would have been an instant classic, though. The film starts off developing walt, a very interesting character. A very interesting character being the key, because the other characters are hardly developed. They attempt to establish Tao as shy or repressed, but it never sticks like Walt's development does. That never really matters, because the movie focuses entirely on Walt and everyone else is merely there to fuel his character. There are a lot of curve balls in the film. The entire preacher arc was well done. The ending is sort of predictable once you get there, but it still makes you consider that he may be plotting otherwise. The events leading up to the ending kind of ruin my image of the movie. They are over dramatic (although not acted as such) and just didn't fit in with the interesting dynamic the movie had developed. It's really hard to write this review without spoilers. Tao's acting while locked in the basement sucked. I can't believe it made the final cut. The entire idea of the old man beating up the gangster kid and then the following events really wrecked the movie and brought it in to cliche crowd pleaser rather than interesting piece of cinema. 4.5/5 - Still one of the top 10 movies of 2008. People will either love it for its pros and charm, or hate it for its flaws. I personally loved it and didn't associate any of eastwood's past work with his character. I didn't even know it was him until near the end of the film.
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Jun 24, 2009 18:04
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I loved this movie. Clint did a great job being the typical blue-collar badass he's always been, with the twist that in this case, he's old. Some of the Hmong acting seemed kind of contrived, but CE carried it. On a side note, the hilarious racist comments that flew out of his mouth had me constantly pinching myself that I was actually watching a publicly available movie. 4.5/5
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Jun 29, 2009 23:05
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Great movie, Clint plays an old douchebag very well. Basically it's a story about the redemption of a douchebag and those around him. 1/5 SconZ fucked around with this message at 00:09 on Jul 12, 2009 |
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Jul 11, 2009 08:33
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Liked this movie a lot, don't have much complaints about it. For a such a simple story about a guy dealing with his glutonous pampered ungrateful relatives and finding some redemption in the least possible manner, I thought it delivered. 5/5 Sad ending though.
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Jan 12, 2010 06:37
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Having finished this wreck of a movie literally a moment ago, I have little to say other than this is a predictable, horrificly cliche, badly acted and asinine film which in actuality, barely strives for mediocrity, whilst having the pretence of being a solid race related drama. Woefully out of touch with anything remotely credible in real life and pretty much a trussed up straight-to-video affair which neither stimulates the imagination or emotions of anyone who has seen more than 5 films in their life. 2/5 solely for narrative pace and cinematography which was realtively well done even if the narrative was cheesier than eating a double mozzerela pizza between two hulking slabs of cheddar in a room full of filthy socks.
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Feb 28, 2010 00:55
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