Gran Torino

We’ve heard about this movie last month after it was first seen in a limited release in North America last December 2008.  It is expected to be shown in the Philippines in mid of February but we had the opportunity to see the movie last night on a preview sponsored by Warner Bros.

The film features Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood), a retired war veteran, who struggled to find himself being alienated from his grown sons and everybody else.  Changes started when Walt started to interact with his Hmong neighbors after Thao (Bee Vang), as part of a neighborhood’s gangster’s initiation, tried to steal his 1972 Grand Torino.  After the incident, Walt was drawn into the life of Thao and his family.  The fun part started when Walt started to protect Thao and his family from the Hmong gangsters.

The movie is fascinating. The characters were built differently at the start of the movie and subtly transcending into a different character in the later part.  The cultural differences also played a good part in building the story.  Walt would not have been involved with the Hmong family if not with the American – Asian differences.

The movie’s ending was also very unexpected. It was very different from what I have imagined while watching the movie.

Gran Torino will be shown in theaters near you in the coming weeks.