Virgil
Gran Torino
by , 01-18-2009 at 02:32 AM (10130 Views)
My wife and I went to the movies to see Clint Eastwood, one of my all time favorite actors, in possibly his last movie, Gran Torino. Is it a great movie? I don’t know, but I did love it. The story is not all that original: hard edged geezer softens for someone not in his world. In this case the geezer is Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski and the people who he befriends are an Asian immigrant family who have become his neighbors. Kowalksi’s wife has recently died and slowly we learn that he is dying too. All he wants is to be left alone, even from his sons and their family, with whom he can’t even relate with any more. Despite initial hostility he slowly begins to form bonds with the immigrant family, especially with the young son who is being pulled into the street gangs in the crippled old Detroit neighborhood. I’ll leave the rest of the story there. If I were to rate the movie, I would give it a seven out of ten. The beginning seemed somewhat clichéd, the old geezer a little too much of a geezer. Let me say that there is quite a bit of profanity in the movie—the blue collar characterization requires it, but I also thought it went too far, especially with the bantering bigotry. Hey I grew up in a neighborhood similar to that and I know that old conservative (and I don’t mean that politically) blue collar type very well, far too well, and while bigoted notions are part of their vocabulary, it doesn’t exactly come out every other sentence. Frankly it becomes schtick in the movie at some point. But, Clint does a fabulous job with the character, making it so believable and over time so endearing. The movie really gets better as it goes along as the bonds between Kowalski and the immigrants builds. They slowly draw him out of his isolation. And the ending is spectacular. If this is Clint’s last movie, it’s a hell of way to go. Kudos to Bee Vang, who plays the immigrant boy and Ahney Her who plays his sister, both as far as I can tell unkown. They were marvelous, and I think Her can grow into a fine actress. She was very charming. And Christopher Carley does a nice job as a persistent priest who gets Eastwood to go to confession.
I absolutely loved the movie’s theme song, and in the movie Clint Eastwood actually sings the first section of it. I went scouring the internet to get it, and I bought it, only to find that the Clint Eastwood section was not included. And then I went looking again and bought it again, thinking I finally found the movie version, but it was the same thing. Stupid me, but it was only 79 cents each. Apparently you can hear the Clint section on youtube, but the song cannot be bought with it. Oh well. Here is the full version with Clint beginning off of youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEXF7...eature=related. Eastwood is given song writing credit for the song. Here are the lyrics, which I love too:
Gran Torino
[*Sung By Clint Eastwood*]
So tenderly your story is
nothing more than what you see
or what you've done or will become
standing strong do you belong
in your skin; just wondering
gentle now the tender breeze blows
whispers through my Gran Torino
whistling another tired song
engine humms and bitter dreams grow
heart locked in a Gran Torino
it beats a lonely rhythm all night long
it beats a lonely rhythm all night long
it beats a lonely rhythm all night long
[*sung by Jamie Cullum*]
Realign all the stars above my head
Warning signs travel far
I drink instead on my own Oh! how I've known
the battle scars and worn out beds
gentle now a tender breeze blows
whispers through a Gran Torino
whistling another tired song
engines humm and bitter dreams grow
heart locked in a Gran Torino
it beats a lonely rhythm all night long
these streets are old they shine
with the things I've known
and breaks through the trees
their sparkling
your world is nothing more than all the tiny things you've left behind
So tenderly your story is
nothing more than what you see
or what you've done or will become
standing strong do you belong
in your skin; just wondering
gentle now a tender breeze blows
whispers through the Gran Torino
whistling another tired song
engines humm and bitter dreams grow
a heart locked in a Gran Torino
it beats a lonely rhythm all night long
may I be so bold and stay
I need someone to hold
that shudders my skin
their sparkling
your world is nothing more than all the tiny things you've left behind
so realign all the stars above my head
warning signs travel far
i drink instead on my own oh how ive known
the battle scars and worn out beds
gentle now a tender breeze blows
whispers through the Gran Torino
whistling another tired song
engines humm and better dreams grow
heart locked in a Gran Torino
it beats a lonely rhythm all night long
it beats a lonely rhythm all night long
it beats a lonely rhythm all night long
Let me just say, I have lots of favorite actors, and some are better actors than Clint Eastwood, but nobody, no actor I have ever seen is cooler--that's right cooler--than Clint Eastwood.
Go to Profile
Mark as Read
