‘Gran Torino’: The Parable of Walt Kowalksi
- Director: Clint Eastwood
- Running Time: 116 Minutes
- Rated: R
From childhood to adulthood, people are constantly reinforced with morality tales that may be structurally different but thematically similar. One example is the Prodigal Son parable, where a son goes out and wastes his father’s money. Upon coming back poor and disheveled, his father still welcomes and celebrates his return and forgives him. Gran Torino is one of those films that takes the template of a usual morality tale and transplants it in the entire plot. It follows a strict, common moral tale of redemption that many people have already heard and suffers a bit in characterizations and pacing, yet the film is still unique and entertaining to watch due to the interesting characters and well-executed plot progression.
Gran Torino follows Walt Kowalksi (Clint Eastwood), a retired Ford factory worker and Korean War veteran. His wife recently passed away and is now living alone in his house in a neighborhood growing more diverse each year. However, Walt does not take kindly to many people with his high expectations and rough attitude. He even belittles his own sons and grandchildren as being spoiled and not working legitimate jobs along with not paying much attention to the young new priest, Father Janovich (Christopher Carley), who insists Walt goes to confession as his wife’s dying wish. Life takes a change as Walt intervenes in his neighbors’ fight where Sue (Ahney Her) and Thao’s (Bee Vang) family is fighting with a Hmong gang. Although only doing it because the fight was spilling onto his lawn, he makes both unexpected friends and enemies in a culture he did not expect to interact with.
The film has its definite quirks that are hard to get past. One stems from its very straight-to-heart plot. By the end of the first act, most audience members that paid attention can foresee where the direction of the film is headed and Eastwood stays true to this and pulls out few complete surprises to fool audiences otherwise. This is not much of a problem in itself as instead, it creates odd progression issues with characters and plot devices. Characters that were acting in a much more gentle manner five minutes before become beer-drinking, ferocious people or a fierce conversation that may have occurred in the last scene is quickly forgotten. It seems as if the story was set so much in stone that at times, the characters seem more like chess pieces that need to be doing a certain action, whether or not it makes sense with their persona. This also results in pacing issues that range from being a bit dull to surprisingly brisk as the film only hits its tempo by the final act. It is as if, again, the importance of plot points was considered more vital than the practicality of how the scenes and characters play off of one another. The latter should have been more closely watched, especially in a film focused so squarely on the emotional progression of its protagonist at all times.
On the other hand, though, Gran Torino works well with its core story and the strength of the main characters. The tale of redemption is a familiar one explored in many movies, which, again, is done perfectly to a tee here and works because, much different from many movies of today, there is little confusion on what or why a certain event is triggered with themes readily apparent. The interesting addition, here, is that Eastwood also covers several other ideas such as the clashes occurred in the US melting pot society and the perception of being American through the eyes of two cultures: Walt’s patriotic and old-American stance and the Thao’s immigrant and modern American perspective. They are not fully developed and to a certain extent, superficial, but are different elements, which give the story some unique characteristics, and does make an impact in the film’s conclusion. Symbolism, additionally, makes strong and simple appearances such as Walt’s Gran Torino that ultimately does become the film’s centerpiece and important connection between him and his neighbors.
Much more important, though, is the trio of actors. Some critics have noted that Vang and Her are out of their league compared to Eastwood, and this is true for the first half of the film. A bit awkward and stilted, their acting does not come into their own until the halfway point when their characters not only mature but also grow upon the viewers. Eastwood’s direction creates a sense of relationship that blossoms throughout the film and makes the emotional impacts resonate because of it. Her, for instance, seems natural and fluid in her environment with both the Hmong people and Walt. Vang, much like his on-screen persona, develops through the film, being hounded as a shy boy in the beginning to a mature teenager. It seems silly and contrived at first but for the film’s plot progression, makes sense. Then there is Eastwood’s Walt Kowalski. Walt is a very typical, gruff Eastwood hero that is not afraid to stand up to his adversaries and is plagued with inner demons. The very odd and well-implemented addition is that he brings some humor and spirit. Walt scowls, spits, grunts, and points fingers but usually to the smiles of audience members. He is like that old man on the corner street who, as angry and senile as he may be, still cracks a smile on one’s face. The character brings out some layered nuances that makes Walt a much more complicated figure whether it is his scars from the Korean War to his vision of being an American to his determination even against his ailing body. Eastwood brings the character to life with ease and is the moving force behind the success of the overall narrative.
Gran Torino is very straightforward and easy-to-predict throughout its, perhaps, too carefully planned narrative that does lag sometimes in its pacing. It also has a few moments of out-of-place characterizations that needed more screen time to flesh out or a better sense of progression. What does make the film intriguing and entertaining, though, are the three main actors. The relative growth of newcomers Vang and Her start out feeling miscast in terms of acting chops but grow to be likable and necessary components while Eastwood steals the show as the very intriguing Walt: a complex, gritty and angry old veteran that shoots out racist slurs and menacing grunts yet possesses a passionate sense of duty and respect. Along with an unexpected humorous coating, Gran Torino is an old-school moral tale of redemption that does ultimately work.
The Wie muses: ***½ out of *****
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