The movie “Grand Torino,” has made a lasting impression on me.  The movie is both directed by and stars Eastwood, and is set in a once beautiful Detroit neighborhood which has been overrun by Hmong immigrants and gangs.  Eastwood plays a widowed Vietnam War veteran with racist views.  His son’s family doesn’t understand him, and he realizes they only tolerate his existence out of obligation.  He takes pride in his home and spends a great deal of time maintaining it.  But his prize possession is a classic old Grand Torino that he keeps in perfect condition. 

Tensions start for Eastwood when the teenage boy next door attempts to steal his car as part of a gang initiation.  The teen’s family makes him apologize and work for Eastwood as a form of penance.  Eastwood is forced to examine the pressures place on the boy by the gang, as well as the struggles he is facing trying to assimilate into the culture.  Eastwood begins to take an interest in the neighboring family, and enjoys the daily interaction with them.  He admires the closeness of their family, and appreciates the respect they show him.  As the gang continues to threaten the family in their attempt to recruit the teenage son, Eastwood gets involved.  When the gang rapes the neighbor boy’s sister, Eastwood chooses to sacrifice himself to bring the gang to justice. He demonstrates the ultimate form of appreciation for the love they had shown him.  

Clint Eastwood is known for classic western movies where he played a rough and tumble cowboy.  He was always a noble hero. This movie was similar to his old westerns, but it was set in a modern day urban neighborhood.  Instead of a cowboy, he was a rough, old war veteran, and his cause was to help the immigrant neighbors who were trying desperately to assimilate in a strange new world.  Like his previous western movies, he does save the day and he is the hero.  His movies were always violent, and this was no exception.

My favorite scene occurred near the very end.  Eastwood went to the house where the gang lived late at night to avenge the rape of his young neighbor.  He pretended to pull out a gun (it was just his hand) and all of the gangsters shot him dead.  He did this knowing they would be convicted of murder and would pay for the crime for the rest of their lives.  It showed how noble he was - a martyr for the cause.  It was very touching; I even cried.  Watching the violence within this neighborhood was very eye-opening.  I live in a very sheltered neighborhood, so I was not familiar with this type of terror.

The script was very well written and made you empathize with the characters. There was a good flow to it, and it captured the relationships as they were developing between the characters.  The acting was very good also.  Clint Eastwood really made the characters come to life, capturing the racism that is so common in the elderly generation.  A typical example occurs when the Hmong family invites Eastwood over for Sunday dinner.  When he replies that he is going to keep his dog hidden, the young girl replies that the dog is fine because they only eat cats.  This exchange demonstrates that the characters were accepting of each other.  There were not any other well-known actors, so it was interesting to see some new faces.  All of the actors were very convincing; if they can get me to cry that means they nailed it.

The only criticism I have is that it was kind of long and the violence was sometimes too much.  However, when I rewatch it, I definitely love every second and I am not sure if there is anything that can be cut.  The violence is very gory and scary at the same time.  When the girl is thrown from a car onto the front lawn of her home after being beaten, it was a shock to my system. As I said before, I live in a quiet neighborhood, so all of this was new and frightening.

I definitely enjoyed this movie and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys an action packed drama.  It is a “must see” for Clint Eastwood fans.  The film exposes some current problems within our country, including racism, immigration, neglected veterans, gang violence, and the degradation of the family.  The movie was nominated for many awards, and it won the “Best Original Song for a Motion Picture” award at the Golden Globes, as well as the “Movie of the Year” at the AFI awards.   It deserves the “R” rating, and less mature 17 and 18 year-olds may not be ready for this film.   I watched it when I was 16 and I was affected by it a lot.  The movie is not all graphic and it there is a lot of humor inserted throughout.  It is a very heartwarming film that you should definitely watch.