Grand Torino

Grand Torino

By Travis Drewett

No, that’s not a spelling mistake, this movie was actually grand. It was an intense movie with quite a few twists and turns. You couldn’t go through the movie without feeling some sort of suspense and laughter. The movie was so serious, that it seemed funny, and the audience agreed. However the overall plot is very serious and emotional. It tells the story of an old war veteran, Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) whose neighborhood is filled with Asian people, or as he calls them, “zipper heads.” He finds himself starting to slightly enjoy their company, and begins watching over a young boy named Thao (Bee Vang). Thao’s cousins begin to cause trouble, which triggers Walt to take action.

The main actors in this movie were both Clint Eastwood and Bee Vang. Clint Eastwood has acted in many movies before, most using his “tough guy” appearance. Whereas this was Bee Vang’s first movie, which didn’t seem to show, he looked as though he had moderate movie experience. This film was very gruesome in the sense that it had things such as racism, gang violence, rape, and incest.

In this movie, you have a very violent plot, with humorous detail. Walt had fought in the U.S. 1^st Calvary in WWII, and was now a bitter old man. The funny parts occur when he gets sucked into a tradition of the Hmong people, whether it’s accepting gifts, or not looking them in the eyes. Of course, he always shows his dissatisfaction with a sigh or a growl but eventually complies, leaving the audience in laughter.

Something that really caught my interest in the movie, maybe not in a good way, was the acting of Sue, Thao’s sister. She must’ve been new to acting because I found her to be somewhat unrealistic. She had the lines down, but the way she displayed them was irritating and sounded like she was reading them in an elementary school play. I think that she was one of things the movie would’ve done better without, but then again, all actors need to start somewhere.

As a final result, I would recommend this movie to a mature audience. It contained too much cussing and disturbing events to be seen by little children, such as the rating for it suggests. It’s a fine movie and definitely one to go see with friends, then again, it may not exactly be the number one “chick flick” so make sure the story line is appealing.