"Get off my lawn."

There's not really spoilers in here.

I'm surprised there's not a review for this yet.  This film was outstanding to say the least.  It was dark, intense, and heavy but it was also charming, inspirational, and funny.  I was surprised at how much humor this film had in it.  With the exception of the five or so scenes that include street thugs, I found myself laughing at Clint's bitterness, his growls, his potty mouth, and just his general badassness.  

The spots you see on TV show this film as a kid who tries to steal an elderly Walt's(Eastwood) 1972 Gran Torino and then winds up doing some work for him.  The thing is, though, the kid(a great young actor named Bee Vang), whose name is Thao but Walt constantly refers to him as Toad, does attempt to steal the car relatively early in the film, though the actual work doesn't take place until after the halfway mark.  While a critical part of the film centers around Walt's relationship with Thao, it's also about his general bitterness to the world and how, after his wife's funeral in the first scene, he starts to change and learns what it really means to live and instead of being that guy who hates everyone, he starts to open up.

There's language in the film that offends virtually every race, a lot of it being said by Walt.  However, I never really saw the character as a racist.  I saw him more as a guy who will call you out if you're acting like an asshole, regardless of what you look like.  I think more than not, Walt just doesn't know about other races, so he comes off defensive, and he's called out for it in the film.

The ending was smart.  I'm not gonna say if it's happy or sad, angry or cheerful.  I'll just say that it was smart.  I was thinking about it for a while after the film ended and I thought...you know, this was a really good idea.  And when you break everything down you see that this wasn't like every other piece of Hollywood trash where you know what's coming, good or bad, sad or mad.  When the movie is over you think, and I was thinking that Walt was a damn good character and Eastwood as a director executed this perfectly.

I thought the film was out of sight and Eastwood did a terrific job, as a director and even more so as an actor.  Some people said this is Dirty Harry pushing 80 and they're exactly right.  Clint goes up against a bunch of 20-something gang bangers and I was cheering as he was sticking it to them.  The guy is 100% badass.  The acting all around was great.  Well, the priest was a little fruity, but I think that was the point of his character.  Overall I loved this film.  Clint Eastwood is a Hollywood icon for the ages.  It's incredible that this guy is the same tough guy in his 70s as he was in his 30s.  Bravo!

I did enjoy this movie but only really for Clint Eastwood's crazy character, he reminded me so much of my Grandfather, he was so funny. Definitely worth watching for Clint in what he has reportedly said is his last ever role on camera.

But I think the script was poor and the ending to me was a bit of a cop-out. I don't want to put any spoilers but to be honest I didn't really buy it, I just sat there thinking "what?"

If you want to see a movie that features a Character arc then this is the one to watch, Clint's character, Walt,  goes through one of the biggest arcs I have ever seen and one the whole it works pretty well although at times quite unbelievable. I thought the acting was very average from the rest of the cast, if it were not for Clint Eastwood being in every scene you may be excused for thinking that this was a $100,000 movie by first time filmmakers. In fact that was my impression after watching, without Clint this is a very average movie and full of cliches like you would not believe.

Despite all that though it did have good intentions, was well directed and Walt is very funny so worth watching for that, just don't expect the script to match up to the lofty expectations.

I really enjoyed the film but I thought the  acting from the two Jmong kids were at times awful. For example the scene where Clint locks the kid in the basement and he's yelling to get out. That was just painfully awkward.

I was very disapointed in this film.  I think the trailers and adds make it out to be something it's not.  It is VERY slow and dull.  The majority of the "thugs" do not come off as real at all, nor do the situations involving them.

Clint is good in his role and I can see how many will find his character cute, crazy, funny, or just "good", but for me, it was painfully obvious what his arc was going to be, and I went in not knowing the plot at all, thinking it was a throwback to Clint's glory years as a badass.  I think Giles said that the arc is the biggest he's seen, but just being big doesn't make it good, believable, or surprising.  There really wasn't any other direction this thing could go, and because of that, it didn't work.

I did not hate this film though.  It was well put together, and told a heart warming story that many will appreciate.

I liked the film. I thought it was funny and poignant and accomplished a lot in one drama.

That said, it certainly had its flaws.

I agree the thugs weren’t always realistic. And sometimes it seemed Clint’s glorious scenes were a bit too set up rather than part of a seamless story. It’s a bit uneven. At times it wanted to be Dirty Harry. At others it aspired to greatness and fell short. At times it achieved greatness.

The scenes where Clint was a badass were great to watch and it had some great lines: “Ever get into it with someone you wished you hadn’t got into it with. That was me.”

It even had some great lines in some of the more emotionally appealing scenes: “It ain’t the things you’re ordered to do that haunt you, it’s the things you ain’t ordered to do.”

Some of the dialogue seemed silly. The barber shop scene springs to mind. Sometimes it seemed strained to make up putdowns and slang names.

As far as Clint’s character being a racist, he is unapologetically racist. But I didn’t view him as a mean spirited person. I viewed him as an aged man near the end of his life and the world changing all around him. His brand of racism was becoming obsolete right before his eyes. He was forced to reevaluate everything he knew right there at the end of his life. And the conclusion was that, with his wife gone, he was as close to that Hmong kid as he was anybody else in his life. Ultimately, the Hmong kids next door had more respect for him than his own family.

I love the way his character talks to himself and his dog all the time. The scene where he looks at Thao and says, “That kid doesn’t stand a chance,” you can see the foreshadowing of the tragic ending.

Despite its flaws, it’s ultimately a story of time catching up to you - and with some powerhouse performances that are so smooth and capable, you’ll miss them if you don’t look for them. I understand why Clint wanted to do this film and I enjoyed watching it.


Breanne

To echo everyone else, I really enjoyed Eastwood's performance and the script had more humor than I was expecting.

The ending was obvious about halfway in, but like Greg said, I thought it was rather clever.

I'd recommend seeing this for Eastwood's performance alone (which was much better than Brad Pitt's oscar-nominated performance).