Gran Torino

This movie was a bit of a disappointment. I was expecting violence. Instead it was slow paced and poorly acted, with questionable characterization.

The opening funeral scene seems to drag, but it is necessary to setup the absence of the sons in the life of the protagonist. Initially the death of his wife seems to be the cause of his perpetual grumpiness. His grim demeanor runs deeper than that, but this is revealed slowly over the first half of the film. For my taste, there are way too many scenes where the camera is still.

Eastwood chews up the scenery, of course, for good or ill. His mumble-growl is befitting, if at first annoying. Unfortunately, he never shoots anyone! The Asian leads are first-timers. They do admirably, but the fumbles are noticeable, especially in the delivery of angry dialog.

The ‘gooks’ are overly tolerant, even reverent toward the undeserved protagonist. The protagonist is a lifelong grump and racist, and we’re expected to believe that he would sacrifice himself for this Asian family? Even the educated one (cliché?) is unbelievably patient and tolerant of the old bigot. Could he really change the core of his character over the course of one summer? Disingenuous.

The DVD has two special features, which speak on the bond between man and car. This relationship was a minor theme of the movie. Like the movie itself, the DVD feels vaguely disjointed and somehow deficient.