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movie review - Gran Torino

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Tokyo, 2009.10.07

This is an interesting movie about a sour old war veteran and his unlikely interaction with a Vietnamese-American youth in his neighborhood following the kid trying to steal the old man's car. It's a memorable story that deals with the old bastard struggling to deal with the generation and cultural gaps between himself and his new acquaintance. He goes a long way to try to sort the kid out despite his "not standing a chance" due to the all-pervasive threat of gangs. We see him in one confrontation after another with younger people of other social/racial castes but all the while it's clear that the man is not only a decent sort (in a way) but gradually changing. Knowing the lead actor's bonkers personal politics makes this all the more interesting.

I'd happily watch this again. Perhaps with my mixed-race son, someday.

Strongly recommended.

rand()m quote

The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you.

—Rita Mae Brown