Gran Torino

            This movie is a gem, and kind of a surprise that it’s not up more than golden globes as it came out shortly before the start of the year. Clint Eastwood plays your dad. Basically, he is everyones father, if your father is patriotic, hardnosed, racist as hell, and has a fuse as short as a brazilian midget. Walter is his name and he doesn’t take guff from anybody.

            He’s a retired autofactory worker, and the only hold out in a naighborhood taken over by Vietnamese immigrants. His kids work for Japanese car companies, and he is totally separated from them. His wife just died, and her ninny catholic priest keeps coming around, and He can’t stand that guy.

            He catches a young Vietnamese boy breaking into to steal his car, but the confrontation quickly becomes obvious that it’s an initiation into a gang, a gang he doesn’t really want to join. Walter becomes an unwitting neighborhood hero after stopping the altercation without resorting to deliberate violence.

            As the violence grows worse, Walter realizes he must do something to stop it, and he begins to realize there is hope for all those around him, and maybe even for himself. This movie isn’t that deep, and some of the scenes are downright hilarious, but the pacing is really what’s perfect, you feel what the actor feels, and see what he sees, and while there are some tough scenes, you can learn right along with everyone else.

            This is a clear 2, a great tribute to The America of old, and what growing old truly means in 2010. A real educator for a younger generation.