“Gran Torino”

“Gran Torino,” starring and directed by Clint Eastwood, is an unexpectedly funny yet intense story that follows an old man stuck in a modern neighborhood with Hmong immigrants. Grumpy and growling, he approaches his life with anger and regret, which melts through his relationship with the neighbors. Connecting with their struggles, he finds a new way of re-evaluating his pains and hurts from the past, and begins a search for redemption.

The intolerable man’s attitude creates a humorous tone that brings laughter to the audience. Eastwood’s engaging film brings laughter, but finishes in a serious and unexpected note.

Eastwood’s character, Walt Kowalski, a veteran of the Vietnam War, losses his wife at the beginning of the movie, and spends the day sitting on his porch, growling at every piece of life in his neighborhood. Kowalski is searing with pain from the violence that he’s faced, the shame and regret of how he carried himself throughout his life and found no comfort in his family or religion to release it. He accidentally becomes a hero to his next door neighbors when he intervenes in a fight and unknowingly saves them from gang violence. Comfort creeps into his life when the neighbors bring flowers and food to his doorstep for his heroism.

Along with the gratitude, the neighbors try to convince the old neighbor to accept their teenage son Thao, played by Bee Vang, to work for him after trying to steal his’72 Gran Torino one night. Kowalski ends up becoming the hero of the town, when the gang tries by force to drag Thao out of his own home to get him to join their gang. Kowalski, seeing the situation, comes out of his house with a rifle and scares off the gang-bangers for stepping on his lawn. To stop the family’s daily generous donations of food, Kowalski finally accepts Thao and puts him to work, which gradually leads to a bonding relationship.

His heroism continues when Thao’s sister, Sue, played by Ahney Her, was being man handled by a few teenage boys. The old man saves her from the trouble, which by then Sue realizes how fearless the old man is and how he is not as grumpy as he seems.

Bee Vang’s performance was convincing when playing the role of a teenager who struggles with learning how to be a man and staying away from the gang-bangers in a neighborhood in Detroit. Vang’s character feels passionate about learning and working for Kowalski. Throughout the movie, Thao quickly picks up the teachings of the old man. They spend time together and soon become close and depend on each other to find their purpose in life.