The American Spectator : Gran Torino

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Gran Torino

By James Bowman on 1.30.09 @ 6:02AM

Clint Eastwood was more attractive when he was Dirty Harry and not Clean Walt.

What are we to make of a movie that is named after a car? If it's The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956), The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or The Love Bug (both of 1968), Cadillac Man (1990) or, simply Cars (2006), we can expect comedy or romance or kiddie fantasy but nothing of serious purport. Back in 1989 Clint Eastwood starred in Pink Cadillac, supposedly a screwball comedy though I wouldn't know. Like an overwhelming majority of movie-goers, I didn't see it. Now Mr. Eastwood is back, this time as director as well as star, and he's got a much bigger success with Gran Torino. But even though there are lots of jokes in it -- most of them racial slurs transformed into comedy by passing through the gums of the lovable but now very old Clint Eastwood -- it's not supposed to be a funny movie. If only it were! Instead, like most of the later Eastwood -- since, say, Pink Cadillac -- it sinks under the weight of its own moral portentousness.

Perhaps the centrality of the car has something to do with the animistic religion practiced by the Hmong neighbors of Clint's character, a curmudgeonly widower and retired Ford worker named Walt Kowalski, in his run-down neighborhood of Detroit. As in Million Dollar Baby there is a Roman Catholic priest (Christopher Carley) meant to serve as Mr. Eastwood's foil who, though the latter describes him as an "overeducated 27-year-old virgin who likes to hold the hands of superstitious old ladies and promise them everlasting life," gets off a lot easier than the priest in the earlier movie. Like him, however, he stands for the director's disgust with conventional Western religion. By contrast, a Laotian shaman who tells his fortune is treated with respect, as are the strange religious customs of the Hmong.

It's fitting, then, that the car is a kind of religion to Walt: not only his prized possession but a symbol (as he sees it) of the great days of the American auto industry -- now, like his own great days, long past. This totemic quality, this aura of magic, also extends to the rifle he uses to frighten the life out of the Hmong teenager from next door, whom he calls Toad (Bee Vang), when the latter is forced by his cousin to break into Walt's garage as part of a gang initiation. Walt also has a large handgun that he uses to similar effect on some members of another gang who are harassing Toad's sister, Sue (Ahney Her), a feisty gal to whom Walt has taken a shine in spite of himself and his multifarious racial prejudices.

The guns are associated with his long-ago service in the Korean War, which in turn is associated with some unnamed atrocity, his own involvement in which he hints at to the priest -- even though he doesn't think it worth confessing along with the stolen kiss from Betty Jobinski at a Christmas party in 1968. This, together with the other horrors, also hinted at, that he saw in Korea, has produced a set of psychic wounds that he continues jealously to guard as tokens of his moral authority. "What was it like to kill someone?" Toad asks him, after he has been taken under the wing of the older man.

"You don't want to know," says Walt, darkly.

The Unforgiven motif as well as the suggestion of post-traumatic stress disorder will be familiar to students of the late Eastwood who, most recently in Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, keeps coming back to the subject of the psychic costs of violence with little or no consideration given to the reasons for it. In Gran Torino as elsewhere, this produces a strange, other-worldly quality to the moral dramas he would present us with. Why are these people hurting themselves and others? Why would we not want to know that? But if the movies know, like Clint growling "You don't want to know," they're not telling. Here, the gang members who persecute Toad also rape his sister, even though at least some of them are supposed to be family members. If the gang exists in the first place, as the movie hints it does, as protection for the Hmong against rival gangs of other ethnicities, why would they rape their own kind? Why would Toad not want to join them in protecting his people from the black and Hispanic gangs?

One answer to the latter question, at least, is that Toad is a wimp. Indeed, Walt is supposed to take him on as a protégé precisely in order "to man you up a little bit. Get a little carbon off the valves." Even Walt's incessant racial slurs are meant to be seen as nothing but a form of distinctively masculine banter, a subset of the jokey insults he routinely trades with his male friends, which must be taught to the boy along with the use of the tools of manhood put on display for his benefit. Subsequently, the guns and the car and the power tools are joined by WD-40, a vice grip, and a roll of duct tape with which, as Walt tells Toad, "any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem." Now the fatherless Toad is presumably equipped to take on the world.

But in the end, the most potent of these masculine tools turn out not to be for use -- or not for use by anyone without Walt's psychic scars and the moral authenticity they give him. Presumably their magic powers have to be circumscribed, lest Toad end up either dead or a psychological basket case and moral anachronism like Walt, who suddenly sees in the persecuted Toad's gang-banging dilemma a path to redemption for himself. For in spite of his apparent dislike of Christianity, Walt chooses a Christ-like solution to the problem of the neighborhood bad-boys, with the result that Toad and Sue and their charming family may at last be allowed to live in peace -- at least if that turns out to be all right with the black and Hispanic gangs. We're not informed about that.

In other words, the movie is typical late Eastwood with a clunking moral familiar to anyone who has kept coming back to his work in the hope that Dirty Harry might, at long last and very late in the day, put in another appearance. In Gran Torino he leads us right up to the brink of a Dirty Harry moment, only to whisk the football away at the last minute, Lucy-like, in order to give us the by-now familiar anti-"violence" message of his movies since Unforgiven (1992). As in Unforgiven, the hero has a secret sorrow, a deed or deeds of violence in his past of which he is ashamed and for which he is in search of absolution. As in Mystic River (2003), violence never solves anything. As in Million Dollar Baby (2004) the Catholic Church is depicted as naive and feckless. As in Flags of Our Fathers (2006), there is no heroism except in victimhood. Yeah, yeah. But wouldn't even the liberals he is sucking up to like to see Dirty Harry again anyway?

topics:
Clint Eastwood, Dirty Harry

About the Author

James Bowman, our movie and culture critic, is a resident scholar at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He is the author of Honor: A History and Media Madness: The Corruption of Our Political Culture, both published by Encounter Books.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (36) | Leave a comment

mary pikul| 1.30.09 @ 9:34AM

I saw the movie last night. I thought it was great . Clint Eastwood deserves an oscar nod, in my opinion.

RT| 1.30.09 @ 10:55AM

Sounds like the same liberal propaganda, sure enough. Thanks for the warning. Love your reviews.

David Govett| 1.30.09 @ 12:07PM

Clint's movies usually feature oversized guns with the optional nitwit attachment. In his case, "dierector" would be the more apt term.

Frank Marschino| 1.30.09 @ 2:38PM

Typical liberal moralizing, guess Clint has had one too many brews at his Carmel watering hole. That's why it's so surprising the movie garnered no nominations....wasn't the Hollywood establishment paying attention to the message? People don't kill people, guns have brains!

Vinay K| 1.30.09 @ 8:06PM

I saw the movie, it was a very good movie. I can't believe the slant you put on the movie in your review. You need to get a life.

Snaps Provelone| 1.30.09 @ 9:50PM

Well, I can see your points, and I also would as well like to see some sort of last hurah for Harry, or something like that....
With that said, it IS a good film. It tells a story, I'm a Fireman, and that movie had a room full of grown men welling tears. That don't happen too often here.
We would like to see one last blast from Eastwood Harry style, as well.
NO nominations. Wow.

Walleye| 1.31.09 @ 12:24AM

What movie did you see? This was the best movie Clint was ever associated with! All the insults were misdirection...Walt taught his neighbors how to be Americans. ..Americans do things. They take care of things and fix them. They work. He did his duty and dealt with it best he could. Loved and obeyed his wife. Had no time for wimps and was admired by every man in the movie except his sons. They knew they could never measure up.
He had standards and he lived up to them right to the end. Had no doubt that justice would prevail thus was willing to sacrifice himself for those who needed him. Just as he was willing to do in Korea. Just as he did for his wife.
Brilliant movie absolutely brilliant.

HotPat| 1.31.09 @ 12:52AM

I guess the author hasn't had any experience at all with criminal street gangs. They regularly "disipline" their own kind with things like rape, murder, torture, and things like that. If he hates Clint, then it must be a five star movie. Everyone should see it. I shall, and I'll probably buy the DVD. So, Bowman, eat your loser heart out.

Kevin Riley O'Keeffe| 1.31.09 @ 1:26AM

"That's why it's so surprising the movie garnered no nominations....wasn't the Hollywood establishment paying attention to the message? People don't kill people, guns have brains! "

You obviously haven't seen this movie before subjecting it to your inane and misguided criticism. This movie is actually very pro-Christian, as well as very much a conservative piece of film making. And that's probably why it didn't get any nominations, because irrespective of one's political agenda, its also a damn fine film.

The reviewer did all the readers of this article a real disservice by revealing too many details of the plot, such as the girl's rape, and the way he implies how the film ends, to cite the two most egregious examples.

Kevin Riley O'Keeffe| 1.31.09 @ 1:29AM

"I saw the movie, it was a very good movie. I can't believe the slant you put on the movie in your review. You need to get a life. "

My sentiments exactly. Ignore this half-assed excuse for a review; the man who wrote it apparently didn't understand the film at all (I suspect he just got the verbal Cliff's Notes from someone who actually saw it, unlike him). This is one of the best movies to come out of mainstream Hollywood in years, and I think a lot of you people would agree, if you gave it a chance. Calling it "liberal propaganda" is utter hogwash. Its closer to conservative propaganda.

Ivan Ivanovich| 1.31.09 @ 8:24AM

Yes, it is closer to conservative propaganda, but it’s real and a great movie. Having grown up in the Highland Park area of Detroit, I can attest for the authenticity of this movie. Walt is my father and his friends talking about Japs, Krauts, Dagos, Polacks, and the one missing insult Joooz. But what Walt shows is that the names meant very little in the big picture of life. Honor, hard work, and sacrifice will win out in the end.

Doug S| 1.31.09 @ 10:58AM

I haven't seen the movie. After a one-two punch from Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby, I've taken an oath never to see another movie by nihilist Clint Eastwood. But he does seem to have his loyal fans, who will watch any garbage he makes.

Jeremy Lott| 1.31.09 @ 12:48PM

Spoiler warning: I am about to reveal the ending of this film because I believe that Bowman missed the point so spectacularly that it angers me. Do not read on if you do not want to know:

In Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood intentionally dies a martyr's death. He goes out with grin and a prayer on his lips, having confessed his sins and gotten his affairs in order. He does this to save the lives of his neighbors. The movie leaves no doubt that if he wanted to, he could have taken the thugs out. But he does not kill them because he is dying and he decides that he would rather have a good death.

Jay| 2.1.09 @ 9:02AM

I really think the reviewer is off on this review. He talks so much about how Eastwood covers the "psychic damage" of war without mentioning why war is important in the first place. But why he fought in Korea is implicit throughout the movie, be it the American flag proudly hung in a decaying neighborhood, the pride Walt has in keeping his lawn and house in good shape, his focus on hard work and sacrifice, or his desire to instill these values in others, Eastwood depicts Kowalski as a true patriot. Mr. Bowman seems to be most angered simply by the fact that the main character does pop a cap in anyone's behind, but just because the movie lacks killing does not mean it is liberal propaganda. And you will make a bad name for conservatives by implying that killing=conservative. And the movie was NOT nominated for anything. That should tell you something. Hollywood rarely misses a chance to fawn over Eastwood (Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby), so the fact they did not with Gran Torino should tell you that they did not like the very pro American messages in Mr. Eastwood's film.
Please Mr. Bowman, next time pick a different battle. Clint Eastwood is the closest thing to a conservative in Hollywood these days, don't waste your time attacking him.

volkan| 2.1.09 @ 4:08PM

a good farewell,to all of us. and asking why gran torino?and not the other models if you search u can find answers.

Ben| 2.1.09 @ 6:56PM

Did this guy even see this movie? Liberal propaganda - hogwash! Clint is a lifelong Republican and Reagan supporter. Besides, the movie is not at all anti-Catholic or anti-religion and the first and final scenes of the movie movingly takes place in Church. The main character is a proud American - not in an in your face way - but the same way our grandparents are proud Americans. Flag on their porch, don't brag about their noble service in our wars, cherish hard work, discipline, and sacrifice. This was a great movie - a movie any Conservative (or anyone really) can enjoy.

godoggo| 2.1.09 @ 7:29PM

Oh, Jesus. Learn a little bit about gangs. The most violent ones around were formed for "protection." And it's not like Hmong gangs are just some literary device that were invented for this movie. What a load of ignorant trash.

I loved this movie.

godoggo| 2.1.09 @ 7:44PM

And of course, this dude thinks that Asian gangs would not be a problem because they're not Black or Mexican.

HogKiller| 2.1.09 @ 8:07PM

You get paid by the word right? Was it the best movie ever, no. Was it good entertainment that had a bit of morality in it. uh huh. Next time get extra butter on your popcorn.

Carrol Bee| 2.1.09 @ 8:50PM

Loved this movie. Knew I would love it after I read the snarky reviews by the press. If they pan it, see it because it's bound to be good.

Cris| 2.1.09 @ 9:09PM

Mr. Bowman is correct in his appraisal. The movie ends on a ridiculous note, begging our disbelief. (Spoiler alert!) The movie asks us to believe that Walt Kowalski sacrifices himself based on the certainty that the criminal justice system will punish his killers. In Detroit?
Make my day...

Exlib| 2.2.09 @ 11:50AM

Then movie may not have been one of Eastwood's best, but the review by Jeremy was right on. He died this martyr's death to save a, yet, innocent (Toad). It was also ironic that he died at the hands of those, of whose decent, he had killed in Korea. I did not take away a liberal message. The message I took away was of sacrifice to help your fellow man. He was, obviously ill, didn't want the 'nursing home' scenario. He wanted to end his life, helping those that at the beginning of the movie, he despised, yet grew to admire. The violence he had experienced or delivered had come full circle, he repented and his affairs were taken care of...a very Christian, conservative message.

ted g| 2.2.09 @ 8:59PM

Your referral repeatedly to the Korean War. Try the Vietnam war, where the Green Berets allied with the Hmong

Tyler| 2.6.09 @ 2:02PM

wow. i cant believe the people that bring down this movie like its garbage. i wish i never started listening to critics because they judge by what their political beliefs are. you guys really dont understand the concept of the movie at all. thats like bashing Gladiator and 300. they made grown men cry. now thats what we need

JEFF| 2.17.09 @ 12:59PM

One of the best movies I ever seen at a theater. Walt sounded like every older gereration guy I've ever known. People back then had much tougher skin, not like the scared little wimps we are raising today.

jlw509| 3.13.09 @ 3:28PM

It is one of the toughest, best, most personal, most manly and most humanly rewarding movies I have ever seen. Here's the script. See for yourself.

http://www.joblo.com/Gran Torino.htm

Then see the movie, and see it talk, breathe, and live.

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