Gran Torino

Clint Eastwood directs and casts himself as a grousing, racist ass searching for some kind of redemption. It feels like a rush job, and it probably was. Eastwood plays Walt, a Korean War vet and retired factory worker disgruntled about the growing Asian population in his beloved Detroit. Walt has just lost his wife and can’t stand his two sons and their families. He casually says stuff like “gook” and “zipperhead,” often straight into the faces of his Asian neighbors. When Thao (Bee Vang), the teenage boy from next door, tries to steal his prized 1972 Gran Torino as part of a gang initiation, it causes the racist part of Walt’s personality (about 97 percent of it) to boil over. What really drags the film down is a supporting cast of nonactors who, not surprisingly, can’t act. Eastwood himself overacts as Walt, taking things too far with the growls and scowls. The movie wants you to laugh, but there’s little to laugh about. It also has one of the dumbest movie endings of the year.