Saw Gran Torino today, keeping up my 1-film-a-week routine. Well, other than last week, but we were in Hastings, so I’ll let myself off.
The story is basically about Charlton Heston turning into Paul Newman.
It was pretty good. At times fantastic, with some very funny moments of Grumpy Clint. Ocasionally it slid into a bizarrely cartoony tone which didn’t seem to really fit with the serious themes. On the other hand, the only scene I really didn’t like was between clint and the priest on the porch – it felt like they stopped talking to each other and instead began to preach at the audience. It’s that overblown sense of self worth that has always put me off Clint’s recent Oscar films.
The acting from some of the younger cast also seemed rather dopey and inconsistent – though that could just be because I’ve been spoiled by the amazing young cast of The Wire.
Inevitably it eventually went more for crowd-pleasing wish fulfillment rather than realism, but there’s no denying the satisying emotional impact of the finale.
So yes, good, entertaining stuff but not as hard hitting, as complex or as subtle as I’d hoped.
On the plus side, at least the climax didn’t turn into Clint Eastwood Shoots Teenagers.
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