Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino is a drama about a retired Korean War veteran named Walt Kowalski who befriends his new Hmong neighbors Sue and Thao after his wife dies. A local gang picks on Thao incessantly, and Walt realizes what he has to do to save his newfound friend. For those who've seen the trailer, then you know the growling, cantankerous Walt that Clint Eastwood plays. And he is perfect in his role. We understand and appreciate his existence, even if we don't like his gruff exterior. His open and overt racism appears to be a measure of his love, not hatred, for the "dagos" and "zipperheads" he interacts with. And it's more hilarious than Crash.
The plot is rock-solid, with classic pacing and storytelling. The cinematography and editing are equally good. But the acting by everyone except Eastwood was awful. The Hmong teenagers had no acting experience, and it showed. It was painful to watch: eye-gougingly painful. And had bad sound recording. I don't know how it made it into this movie. But the rest of the movie is amazing. Highly recommended.IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1205489/