Walt Kowalski is My Friend

And now, it's time for us here at SLM to actually talk about a movie.

It finally got into positive digits last weekend. Thanks to the relatively nice weather, I was able to venture out doors. I celebrated this occasion by going to see Gran Torino. I imagined it'd be a nearly empty theater, since I was going to a Saturday afternoon matinee in a small theater in a small town. Plus, it was supposedly kind of an artsy film that doesn't normally appeal to the general public, no matter what awards and accolades it may receive. Much to my surprise, there was actually quite a number of people in attendance at the local cinema. It wasn't a packed house by any means, but there were certainly more people there than I had expected.

As for the movie, it was unexpectedly great. I mean, I went in assuming it would be quite good, but it definitely exceeded my expectations. In Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, a grumpy Korean War veteran that just lost his wife. From the opening scene, Eastwood is wonderful at portraying Walt's demeanor simply through grimaces, snarls, and grunts. It's quite humorous watching Walt's reaction to his grandchildren's disrespectful behavior at the funeral and reception that follows.

That actually went a long ways to win me over with this movie. From the trailers and various reviews I gathered that Walt was a cranky, racist, old man that bluntly said whatever was on his mind. However, the film has the viewer actually sympathize with this man. Further, though racial slurs are abundant, they're almost played for laughs, which goes a long way at making Walt seem very endearing. In fact, I missed out on quite a bit of dialogue that was said simply because the whole theater was laughing so frequently. Hmm, maybe that just means that I live in a really racist town.

Anyway, the story goes that Walt is now alone in his house in a neighborhood where he is now the minority. Over the years all the white folks moved out and Asians moved in. But Walt refuses to move and still contends that it is his neighborhood. A neighborhood gang tries to induct Walt's teenage neighbor Thao ("Toad," as Walt calls him) into their ranks. His initiation trial? Steal Walt Kowalski's prized 1972 Gran Torino. Walt catches him and Thao ends up helping Walt with chores to make up for his transgression. Heartwarming male bonding ensues.

Ok, so the setup may not be that original. But it's the execution that counts. Even as Walt learns and befriends his Asian neighbors, he still doesn't refrain from his racist comments. In fact, he never apologizes for his behavior at all. It's probably because that's how he was raised. He grew up at a time when nearly everyone used racial slurs, even if they didn't mean them in a negative context. We may be appalled by this because we live in this overly politically correct world today. But the world changed, Walt Kowalski didn't.

In the end, though, forget about the awards season and Oscar buzz. It really doesn't matter. What does matter is that this is just a fun and enjoyable movie to watch. It's no where near the best movie ever made, but it's certainly one of the better ones. I look forward to when it comes out on dvd so I can watch it again and catch any dialogue that I missed the first time. Plus, I want to see my new friend, Walt Kowalski, once again.

Rating: 8.3/10

Note: The rating scale of this site may change in the near future. I'm still trying to figure out what a cool system would be. Maybe 4 out of 5 Todds would be a good rating for it? Any suggestions on what I should use in the future?