The trailers for Gran Torino menace, and the film darkens your spirit from time to time. A retired auto worker buries his wife, and then faces the changes in his neighborhood with the same coldness (at first) he shows his less-than-agreeable children.
But any gloom in Clint Eastwood’s new movie is lifted by simple moments and insights, and a touch of humor. The caricature of grumpy old man suits Eastwood here; he must have enjoyed substituting growling for dialogue as a blunt marker of his character’s dissatisfaction with his family, neighborhood, and life. When Eastwood’s character does speak, it’s blunt, unfiltered, and unambiguously racist. The slow thaw in his relations with Asian neighbors is foreseeable, but not rushed. You can almost imagine his transformation being real, and his later sacrifice is contextual, if still surprising.
The gloom and grit of suburban Detroit are, strikingly, always portrayed in sunny summer weather. Any decay is presented in bright sunshine. The contrast underlined the point, rather than hiding it.
Only 72 from Metacritic? Bahhhh…too low. I missed dinner beforehand, and didn’t even mind being hungry for this one.