Last night I saw Clint Eastwood’s latest movie, Gran Torino. It was much, much better than I expected; a clever twist of classic Clint with his venomous “Go ahead. Make my day.” face, with an insightful turn revealing an older man’s self-regrets in life, and his chance for redemption.

His character, Walt Kowalski, is a Korean War Vet and former Ford Motors worker who finds himself recently widowed and pushing away any gestures from his grown sons and their families; he is disgusted by their selfishness. Walt is a curmudgeon who still clings to old ideas, racist opinions, and “protecting” his home, which is now surrounded by a community of Hmongs.

Walt spends his time fixing things. That is what he is good at doing. The day ends with Walt, his dog, and a lot of beer. And keeping everyone away; at first you think he has a deep distrust of Asians. It turns out to be much more than that. (Image via Wikipedia)

The Gran Torino is his prized Ford 1972 car; it is the catalyst for several aspects of the film. The car leads to how Walt gets to know and eventually care deeply for his Hmong neighbors. When he sees gang violence first hand, the soldier inside comes to life. The problem is, the soldier’s memories of his own acts of violence come to life as well.

Walt even learns to accept and befriend the local priest, a baby-faced yet earnest man who knew Walt’s wife for years, and who tries to help Walt spiritually, then tries to rein in Walt’s vigilante tendencies (a bit of an understatement there).

The film was done in the Detroit area. Mr. Eastwood also directed it and he is not wasteful; he used real Hmong people in the area who often didn’t know the camera was rolling. Talk about realism.

Walt manages to tug the heart at every revelation and regret revealed. And may have put Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer back on the map. The guy who knows “how to fix things” does just that in the end. By all means see it. And note that the music is done by son Kyle.

Clint has made the Monterey Bay his home for decades now. We are proud and kind of protective of Mr. Eastwood here. He could be standing behind you in line at Brinton’s, or dodging traffic on any street in Carmel and is not hounded by fans. How do I know this? Being local myself, I have met him personally, and have seen him several times.

He doesn’t act or look anything like the clenched-jaw-simmering-rage movie guy (it’s called Acting!). He is friendly, happy, has a slew of progeny and real estate holdings, and has done a lot for the community.

Clint was Carmel’s mayor in 1986; visitors continued to ask about that for 10 years after the fact. He built a fitness center for Carmel Youths. He built Tehama, an exclusive invitation-only country club overlooking Monterey Bay. And of course there is the famous Hogsbreath on San Carlos in Carmel with Clint’s pictures and history. And The Lodge at Pebble Beach. Not to mention scads of donations.

Clint’s wife Dina was a news anchor at KSBW TV and still guest hosts from time to time.

Gran Torino: love the movie, ditto on Clint Eastwood.