Showing posts with label gran. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gran. Show all posts

Wednesday, 18 March 2009

Gran Torino...

What's to say really? Clint's an absolute legend (The Good, The Bad & The Ugly is in my Top 10 of All Time), and this is quite possibly going to be his last on-screen performance - and a blinder of a final bow it is too. Not only is it a case of superb acting, but he manages to make an unreformed, emotionally disconnected, casual racist a hero you can cheer for, and it's a master class is grimacing/scowling/growling.

In fact at times, the film becomes quite funny - the stunningly creative and endless procession of casual slurs Clint's character reels off are chuckle-inducing. Not to the extent of agreement (far from it), but it's just the sheer conviction and most of all, the delivery. One particular rapid-fire slur-laden rant had the audience chortling in shock - again, nobody was agreeing with such sentiments, it was the delivery and the 'creativity' of the insults that were slung which left a large impression, and the audience wide-eyed.

But this is glossing over the gripping plot, the gripping clash of cultures, and the over all joy of seeing Clint tearing up the screen with his sheer power - like I said before, the dude's a total legend. This all said, it's certainly not an action fest (nor was it intended to be), but when Clint's aiming his M1 Garand at a gang-banger and growling at him to "get off my lawn", you can't help but grin like a child in a sweet shop. Legend. He's what, 78 now? But I'm damn sure he could kick my ass, and many other asses to boot - he just exudes sheer, raw power. A real man from a time when men were proper men ... there's not a lot of that these days, but we'll at least have his cinematic legacy as something for men the world over to idolise and even aspire to.

Ultimately, the film is a bittersweet journey (as headed-up earlier in the film when death is summed up as a bittersweet event) - and indeed, this is what you feel come the end credits. You get the bitter, but you also get the sweet - and it's a long-lasting impression.

If this is indeed Clint's last on-screen outing, he certainly went out on top.