2008 - GRAN TORINO, a good film from Clint Eastwood

I was expecting the worst on this film.   Clint Eastwood plays a retired automotive factory worker who's a big bigot.  When a family of Hmong immigrants moves in next door, Eastwood is slowly won over by them and helps their youngest son deal with a gang of Hmong toughs. 

I'm not really the biggest Eastwood fan when it comes to his film making style.  He has never seemed to bring a lot visual interest to the films he directs and it seems like his point and shoot technique of movie making is more suited to a bland 1970's made for TV movie style.

 

However I think this film works fairly well.  I would have to give most of the credit to the writer Nick Schenk who has actually managed to make Eastwood's character and the situations believable.  As a director,  Eastwood did a good job working with his young cast who for the most part had never been in a film before.

 

This film was a pleasant surprise, the running time is 116 minutes.