The movie trailers make it out to be a movie about Clint Eastwood's character protecting his car, the Gran Torino, from a bunch of gangs and thugs. Not even close.
Sure, there is a scene where the neighbor kid is caught trying to steal the car as part of a gang initiation, but that's it. The car is actually a minor character in the movie.
No Gran Torino is a movie about relations - family relations and race relations. Set in a Michigan (Detroit?) suburb/neighborhood, Walt Kowalski(Eastwood), a retired auto worker, has just lost his wife and must now adjust to life alone in a neighborhood that has been transformed into a predominantly Hmong community.
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| Walt to the rescue |
The other side of the story (because the best stories tell two tales) is that of Walt's neighbors, Thao and Sue Lor. Sue is a bright and quick witted girl who watches over the family, and is the character who cracks Walt's bigoted shell and introduces him to the Hmong (and us) to Hmong traditions. Thao is a quiet and intelligent kid, without a father and no direction in life. His cousin (Spider) tries to recruit him into his gang, by stealing Walt's Gran Torino, but is able to stay out when Walt later comes, unintentionally, to the rescue after a scuffle spills onto his lawn.
Soon after Walt comes to Sue's rescue when she and her date have a run in with a couple thugs. As he drives Sue home, Walk takes a liking to her as she demonstrates that she is his bantering equal with her quick wit and willingness to overlook his racist slurs. She is later able to talk Walt into taking Thao under his wing to work off the dishonor he had brought the family by trying to steal the Gran Torino.
Walt is meanwhile having issues with his oldest son as he wants to sell the falimy house and move Walt into a retirement community. Needless to say, this doesn't put him in his fathers good graces, and is one of the funnier scenes in the movie.
Upset with his own son's, Walt starts treating Thao like a favored son and Thao starts looking up to Walt like the father he doesn't have.
The last act of the movie is about the gang and their retrobution agaisnt the Lor's and Walt. I'll not ruin it for you, but it's probably not what you would expect.
Over all, I'd give it 5 stars.
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