Just saw Gran Tarino. Wanted to see Slumdog Millionaire, my company got the time wrong, decided to see Frost/Nixon at a different theater but didn't have the time, so changed course and made it to a later show of Gran Tarino.
Gran Tarino is a story about an old, racist coot living in an urban Detroit neighborhood as he watches gangs consume it. During the film he befriends the neighbors, in particular a young boy, and sets in motion a confrontation with a gang of hoodlums.
Despite all the praise it is getting, Grand Tarino is a flawed film. Flawed enough to the point of being overrated. To say this is a send off to Clint Eastwood would be a fairly accurate statement. Critics and moviegoers seem to be letting that blind them. Granted, Clint does a great job going back to his tough roots. Yet the rest of the cast is in a word: underwhelming. Ok, bad. Ok, real bad. I mean, it was bad enough that I thought to myself, "Are these actors bad? Or is Clint just terrible at providing his actors with character motivation?" Because let us be honest, directors have as much effect on the way the actors act as the actors. The acting is very much of a reach.
In addition, I could bring up flaws in the writing, the character development, the score(listen closely to a painful rendition of some song by Clint himself at the credits), and more. But this is a blog, not an essay.
Go see it, the Sheep will probably love Clint kicking ass. Can't say anyone in their right mind should though.
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