I began my week by watching a DVD of Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood. I didn’t totally buy his performance, the growling thing really seemed over the top. Some of the supporting cast was weak, but it was a really powerful story, and the ending would make several writers heads explode.
It looks like this is going to be a Dirty Harry as old man story, with a good dose of old fashioned redemptive violence, but it doesn’t go that way. It’s the story of a man finding a third way to accomplish something, and I found that fascinating. Of course it’s also a story about an old man who learns to care and to overcome a lifetime of prejudice, but what I really liked was the message that the old man wanted to spare the young man the taint and guilt of being a killer.
It was a really fascinating film, and I especially liked the ending. I can see why there was Oscar buzz around this movie.