Million Dollar Rebel

The Over/Under

Underrated: GRAN TORINO

Gran Torino is the most important movie to tackle immigration since Soderbergh's seminal Traffic (2000). Whereas Soderbergh's film used broad strokes on an expansive canvas, Eastwood's chose a sharp pencil and a napkin. The story centers on Walt Kowalski, a grizzled Korean war veteran/recent widower/disappointed father/lovable racist and his last stand against the neighborhood he once loved. Unlike his recent performances in Million Dollar Baby and True Crime, Eastwood ditched the bark for pure bite. Walt has a lot more in common with the ruthless Stranger in High Plains Drifter than he does with the reluctant hero (with the heart of gold) Will Munny in Unforgiven. In fact, Unforgiving would also be an accurate title for Gran Torino ; based on Kowalski's chilly relationship with his yuppified sons.

I'm not here to review this film. I'll leave that to Roger Ebert. (There is reason he won the Pulitzer)

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081217/REVIEWS/812179989/1023

This movie stayed with me for a few days, like a welcome cheesteak burp.

A few things that rattled my cap..

Walt's touching relationship with his Hmong neighbors- At first, dismissed as "slopes and chinks", Walt slowly sees more of himself in the hardworking immigrants next door, than he does in his own ungrateful, bloated brood. He learns to enjoy their exotic food, welcoming gestures and most of all their fierce loyalty. After Kowalski saves the life of teenage Thao ( a natural and heartbreaking performance by Bee Vang) from a local Hmong gang, he is considered family for life, whether he likes it or not. By the end of the movie, not only does Kowalski bestow his beloved 1972 Gran Torino on Thao, he also tones down his slurs until he is only referring to them as "slants" (baby steps, Walt!).
Walt Kowalski, a second generation Polish immigrant, has watched his old world values deteriorate into the lazy consumerism embraced by his kids and grand kids. In the Hmong family next door, Walt sees the ghost of his parents struggles. In fact, an American classic automobile like the Gran Torino, was oiled with the sweat of first generation Micks, Dagos and Pollacks. It may be 2009 for us, but its 1972 for fledgling Hmong's in America.
The title song Gran Torino, penned by Michael Stevens and Kyle Eastwood (nepotism at its absolute best), provides both closure (by passing on Walts storied Legacy) and lingering doubt for the future of America. After all, in the year since this film was made the mighty Big Three are no more.