tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8871549895931317151.post3092949540869541302..comments2023-11-28T15:20:59.369-05:00Comments on Cinema Viewfinder: Movie Review: Gran Torino - Eastwood's Elegiac RebirthTony Dayoubhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04632329277519635858noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8871549895931317151.post-22624438336324171032009-01-16T15:54:00.000-05:002009-01-16T15:54:00.000-05:00Clint Eastwood used his outward crankiness to come...Clint Eastwood used his outward crankiness to come across as tough and yet also heroic at the same time, well done i'd sayAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8871549895931317151.post-69759173572191512572009-01-11T10:23:00.000-05:002009-01-11T10:23:00.000-05:00Hi James and welcome to the site. I appreciate th...Hi James and welcome to the site. I appreciate the point of view you discuss in your own review (well-written by the way) even if I don't necessarily agree with it.<BR/><BR/><I>Gran Torino</I> is a character study with Walt Kowalski as its subject. Much of it is seen subjectively from his p.o.v. (the only scenes he is not in are scenes where we need a vital piece of information to advance the plot, such as the one where Thao gets beat up, and as such Eastwood is guilty of cheating). I find the movie's tone and style to be perfectly in line with the blunt, racist Kowalski who is at the heart of it.<BR/><BR/>So yes, the "gang bangers" on the corner are stereotypical. But I find it to be appropriate within the protagonist's narrow world view.<BR/><BR/>I've seen enough Eastwood films to know that he is not a racist (<I>Bird</I>, <I>True Life</I>), nor is he ignorant of complexity in story situations (often times allowing it to overwhelm his thesis; <I>Mystic River</I>, <I>Changeling</I>). He is following an artistic directive in the way he chose to fashion this movie.Tony Dayoubhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04632329277519635858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8871549895931317151.post-49782928270254336382009-01-11T09:13:00.000-05:002009-01-11T09:13:00.000-05:00Tony: No bad scenes? Really? See, it's one thing t...Tony: No bad scenes? Really? See, it's one thing to think that the contradictory messages on race in "Gran Torino" lead somewhere satisfactory. (<A HREF="http://coolercinema.blogspot.com/2009/01/utterly-offensive-gran-torino.html" REL="nofollow">I disagree</A>.)<BR/><BR/>But as I surf through the internets reading reviews of "Gran Torino," I'm most astonished that no one holds Eastwood accountable for the number of scenes that play on-the-nose, awkwardly and flat. Then again, Eastwood demonstrated the same in the latter half of "Million Dollar Baby" and got a pass -- but at the time, I thought that was because critics were being overly cautious to guard the plot's big secret. And "Flags Of Our Fathers" has similar issues.<BR/><BR/>Yes, there are moments in "Gran Torino" when Eastwood's charm wins out. Or when Vang and Her somehow manage to make some atrocious dialogue seem respectable. But look at nothing else except the depictions of the gang bangers, and tell me if it reminds you of great cinema or of an after-school special.<BR/><BR/>If "Gran Torino" is a great film -- and you're hardly the only one saying so -- it reaches that status in spite of driving on three blown tires. There are lots of bad scenes in "Gran Torino." Too many to count.Jason Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18150199580478147196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8871549895931317151.post-74991476536688581982009-01-06T21:44:00.000-05:002009-01-06T21:44:00.000-05:00The "sloppy" part really surprises me. I usually ...The "sloppy" part really surprises me. I usually find Eastwood's films to have glaring structural problems, <I>Changeling</I> and <I>Mystic River</I> come to mind. I found this movie to be neat and tidy, almost going right up to the edge of being too pat.<BR/><BR/>And it fulfilled a film proverb attributed to Hawks: "A good movie is three good scenes and no bad scenes."<BR/><BR/>Still, I'm really looking forward to your review James.Tony Dayoubhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04632329277519635858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8871549895931317151.post-69315202101090899112009-01-06T20:30:00.000-05:002009-01-06T20:30:00.000-05:00Interesting review. I'm actually working on a revi...Interesting review. I'm actually working on a review of this at the moment, but from the opposite point of view. I really didn't like the film at all. For die hard Eastwood people, it's connections with Dirty Harry will no doubt please, but I found it to be out of touch and sloppy from start to finish. I'll leave it at that and keep working on my review! I'm always glad to hear other points of view along the way though to see why it works for some people...it just didn't work for me at all.James Hansenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09650436008918093617noreply@blogger.com