Who is the Audience for This Movie?

People who like mentor movies.

What I Liked About This Movie

Clint Eastwood is a legend not only for his acting roles but for his directing. Eastwood stated before this movie was released that it would be his last acting role. With that said I think it was a smart move on his part.

His character in this movie feels like a combination of the all the characters he has played over the years but with a touch of racism. Eastwood could have easily played a perfect character and people would still have praised his last performance. It is a testament to his dedication to the craft that he decided to play a racist war veteran who has very few redeeming personality traits. Of course his character does change over the course of the movie but his brash politically in-correct attitude always stays in tact. His characters fate not only closes the movie well it fittingly showcases Eastwood’s endearing “knight in shining armor” persona for the last time. It is also nice that the movie is not all about him. In a way it has a “passing the torch” type of vibe near the end that was really nice to see.

What Didn’t Work For Me

Whenever you have a cast of unknown actors having to share scenes with a stellar actor like Eastwood the unknowns almost always seem bad in comparison. In Gran Torino the acting by everyone except Eastwood ranges from average to terrible. Their dialogue delivery is unconvincing and it looks like they all seem nervous in front of the camera. It is very distracting. My only other gripe is that there are some oddly edited jumps in time that muddle up the movies flow.

Should You Watch This Movie?

It is Clint Eastwood’s last acting role so if nothing else you have to see it just to see how he ends his illustrious career.

My Rating (Out of 13)