Monday's Movie-Gran Torino

A Novel Menagerie has started a MEME that asks you to post about a movie that you watched the week before. My husband and I had date night Saturday night. We went out for a mexican dinner and enjoyed a night at the movies. So after having my margarita I had to sit through the serious film, Gran Torino, which we both enjoyed!




Here are some of the details from the film:

Starring: Clint Eastwood

Genre: Drama

Runtime: 1hr 56 mn

MPAA Rating: R



The following summary is from the MSN Movie website:

A racist Korean War veteran living in a crime-ridden Detroit neighborhood is forced to confront his own lingering prejudice when a troubled Hmong teen from his neighborhood attempts to steal his prized Gran Torino. Decades after the Korean War has ended, ageing veteran Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) is still haunted by the horrors he witnessed on the battlefield. The two objects that matter most to Kowalski in life are the classic Gran Torino that represents his happier days working in a Ford assembly plant, and the M-1 rifle that saved his life countless times during combat. When Kowalski's teenage neighbor (Bee Vang) attempts to steal his Gran Torino as part of a gang initiation rite, the old man manages to catch the aspiring thief at the business end of his well-maintained semi-automatic rifle. Later, due to the pride of the Asian group, the boy is forced to return to Kowalski's house and perform an act of penance. Despite the fact that Kowalski wants nothing to do with the young troublemaker, he realizes that the quickest way out of the situation is to simply cooperate. In an effort to set the teen on the right path in life and toughen him up, the reluctant vet sets him up with an old crony who now works in construction. In the process, Kowalski discovers that the only way to lay his many painful memories to rest is to finally face his own blinding prejudice head-on.~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

My movie thoughts:
I really thought that I should post about this movie since I don't believe that the previews did it much justice. When I saw the previews in the theater for Gran Torino it appeared to be a movie that was going to very action packed and violent. In my opinion, there really was not a lot of action or violence in this movie. It was more about a lonely man that learns to put his prejudice feelings aside and open up his heart to the family that lives next door in their time of need. It was sad that he was able to create a nice friendship with the family next door, but unable to mend his own family relationships. There are many racial comments made throughout the movie so please be advised that some people may be offended from these comments. But I will also note that it was very heartwarming to see this character's whole attitude change by the end of the movie. Even though my husband was expecting a more action packed movie, we both thoroughly enjoyed it!

I am going to rate this movie 4 out of 5 bags of popcorn.