The Modern Romance

Romance has taken a beating these past few years at the multiplexes. I admit I'm an old softy, I do like romance, that's because movies make it better than in real life, in my opinion they're the reason people want to fall in love in the first place.

I'm not sure if I want to actually fall in love, because I might just be ultimately disappointed because it doesn't amount to what I see in he movies.

The real good romance movies are ones where we can actually see two people either in love or falling in love. This type of romance was done to perfection by the likes of Frank Capra, Ernst Lubitsch, George Cukor, Max Ophuls, or Douglas Sirk. Sometimes romance came in the comedy form like in Capra's "It's Happened One Night" or Lubitsch's "The Shop Around the Corner", or in the melodrama form like Sirk's "All that Heaven Allows", or that almost mystical form Ophuls' "The Earings of Madame de..."

Directors such as these knew that romance came down to love between two people, no matter how they got together.

There have been modern geniuses of the genre post-golden age, such as Woody Allen, who frankly modernized the romantic comedy with "Annie Hall", a film that broke convention by not having the two leads end up together in the end.

Many have followed Allen's style, and "Annie Hall" has been tried to be remade time and time again, by people who don't quite grasp the same sense of dialogue as the nebbish master.

Romance, has been diluted too much, filmmakers it would seem have relied on the old form and audience approval, the characters no longer seem real, or in love. Romantic comedies seem to be the usual punching bag, I haven't had the ambition to see anyone of the ones coming out (Usually starring Katherine Heigel or Jennifer Aniston but I'm not blaming them).

This may be just another nail in the cynical Hollywood coffin, they seem to think romance is a commodity, something to be exploited just like the lazy horror films that come out as well.

This is not to say romance is dead, it might just mean you have to look harder to find it. The best examples of modern romance I found recently come from Richard Linklater with his films "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset".

In "Before Sunrise", Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy meet on a train and spend the film walking around Vienna and falling in love. At the end of the film, they go their separate ways probably knowing they will never see eachother again.

In the "Before Sunset", the couple meet again by chance in Paris nine years later, they pick up the conversation like they never missed a beat, they seem to know they are soul mates, and this time they are older and wiser.

These two films are lovely little snippets of life, perhaps Linklater thought the only way to put romance back in the movies was to strip away all artifice the movies have made you believe in and put the focus back on the people.

This type of idea would work again with John Carney's "Once" made in 2007, which was my choice for best film of the decade, if Linklater's film was about two people falling in love through communication, Carney's film was about two people who fall in love through music.

I love romantic movies, to me it works on a different spectrum from the horror film, yet both seem to be the perfect subject for cinema. Romance is difficult, but if you approach it in an honest in sincere way like you would any genre, chances are you would make people fall in love.

Movie Review: All or Nothing

A film like Mike Leigh's "All or Nothing" (2002) is a film about observation and about character, it's the type of film I love because it isn't so much about something that happens, rather it's about what is happening, it exists in the present and what the characters are going through now.

"All or Nothing" takes us inside the lives of lower middle class British society. Every main character lives in the same apartment complex, although the focus is mostly on one family. This family consists of Phil (Timothy Spall) a taxi driver, his companion Penny (Leslie Manville) and their two children Rachel (Alison Garland), and Rory (James Corden). The family no longer functions properly, everyone seems to be cut off from themselves, Rory spends his time on the couch in front of the tv, Rachel stays quiet but observant as to what goes on. Phil has the face of someone who is disappointed with life, Spall's hangdog expression and sad eyes almost remain constant throughout the film, he no longer seems to make the effort to connect, or maybe he has just forgotten. Penny who works as a cashier at Safeway seems to be the one struggling to stay afloat, she's the realist of the family.

The other characters of the building consist of Penny's friend Maureen (Ruth Sheen) who's a single mother with a daughter who becomes pregnant. There is also another friend of Penny's Carol (Marion Bailey), a drunken housewife with a husband who seems to be completely apathetic, and a daughter (Sally Hawkins) who has no respect for either of them.

At around the midway point, an important event happens in "All or Nothing" which takes the characters out of their stupor and most of them are called into action. Mike Leigh is a filmmaker full of humanity perhaps the most than any other filmmaker working today. Despite his character's flaws, he doesn't give up on them and that's when the film becomes so emotionally real.

The climax of "All or Nothing" takes place in the home of Phil and Penny, where they finally have the courage to connect with one another, and it is probably something they haven't done in awhile, and once it happens, you realize just how invested you are in these characters and their situations, it almost comes as a surprise.

I've just seen "All or Nothing" for the first time, but it was a movie that stuck with me afterwards, I got the kind of feeling from it that I do from my favorite movies. Mike Leigh is a director who has been around a long time, he has a tremendous resume of films including "High Hopes", "Secrets and Lies", and "Topsy Turvy" all of which I haven't seen, I have actually only seen his last two films "Happy-Go-Luck" (Featuring Sally Hawkins again in a memorable comedic role) and "Vera Drake" (with Imelda Staunten as a housewife who moonlights as an abortionist for lower class girls). Of those films, I found "All or Nothing" to be the most emotionally satisfying, I was near tears at the end, but it wasn't depressing, it made me feel happy, and like the people in the film, I once again felt a connection.

Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule Seasonal Quiz, Or I love it when these quizzes come out!!!

1) Classic film you most want to experience that has so far eluded you.
I'll just say the majority of films by Joseph Von Sternberg and "Sunrise"

2) Greatest Criterion DVD/Blu-ray release ever
I have not seen any blue-ray but of the ones I know that are on Blue-ray/DVD at the moment, I would say "The Seven Samurai"

3) The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon?
So hard to choose, but "The Big Sleep" has the edge of being funnier, and naughtier.

4) Jason Bateman or Paul Rudd?
For me Bateman might just have the edge for "Arrested Development" alone, but I do love Paul Rudd in "I Love you Man"

5) Best mother/child (male or female) movie star combo
Scream queens Janet Leigh and Jaimie Leigh Curtis

6) Who are the Robert Mitchums and Ida Lupinos among working movie actors? Do modern parallels to such masculine and no-nonsense feminine stars even exist? If not, why not? I can't think of stars who fit the same bill as these two people, that's not me being elitist when I say that. Josh Brolin reminds me much of Mitchum in films like "No Country for Old Men", he seems so natural playing those kind of guys. Ida Lupino is another story, I like to think Holly Hunter is just as no-nonsense when she could be. This is difficult

7) Favorite Preston Sturges movie
"Sullivan's Travels"

8) Odette Yustman or Mary Elizabeth Winstead?
Since Winstead just appeared in one of my favorite movies of the year ("Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World") I will say her.

9) Is there a movie that if you found out a partner or love interest loved (or didn't love) would qualify as a Relationship Deal Breaker?
If she could never at least like "It's a Wonderful Life", we would have a serious talk about our relationship

10) Favorite DVD commentary
I love Roger Ebert's commentary on "Citizen Kane", "Casablanca", and "Floating Weeds", and but also Donald Richie on "Tokyo Story"

11) Movies most recently seen on DVD, Blu-ray and theatrically
On DVD: "A Serious Man"
Theatrically: "Machete"

12) Dirk Bogarde or Alan Bates?
Don't really have a preference

13) Favorite DVD extra
I'm a fan of the "Making of" segments in DVDs as long as they are done well, and usually if they are a classic movie, it makes it more interesting to learn about.

14) Brian De Palma’s Scarface— yes or no?
Yes! Absolutely, everything about it screams excess, I can't get enough of it.

15) Best comic moment from a horror film that is not a horror comedy (Young Frankenstein, Love At First Bite, et al.)When Norman Bates describes the smell of linen (I think if I'm remembering it right) and he refers to it as a "Creepy smell", I just love his delivery, it's something so unexpected said by him, also the re-mentioning of the name "Dr. Pretorious" in "Bride of Frankenstein", although that might also be considered a comedy.

16) Jane Birkin or Edwige Fenech?
I have seen none of their movies, therefore have no opinion

17) Favorite Wong Kar-wai movie
Have seen none of his movies, but I'll get right on that.

18) Best horrific moment from a comedy that is not a horror comedy
Maybe the A-Bombs going off at the end of "Dr. Strangelove" or the phonecall Larry receives at the end of "A Serious Man"

19) From 2010, a specific example of what movies are doing right…
By putting short films like "Plastic Bag" on Youtube for everyone to see, shows that there are more venues opening up for people to see small films.

20) Ryan Reynolds or Chris Evans?
Probably Ryan Reynolds, I like his style.

21) Speculate about the future of online film writing. What’s next?
It'll catch on more and more, with most film critics losing their jobs in newspapers, it will be the forum to go to get good (some bad) film criticism.

22) Roger Livesey or David Farrar?
No opinion

23) Best father/child (male or female) movie star combo
A different end of the spectrum and say Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in "The Kid"

24) Favorite Freddie Francis movie (as Director)
I've IMDB'd him and haven't seen any of his movies

25) Bringing Up Baby or The Awful Truth?
I have a soft spot for "Bringing up Baby", it's the first film I think of when I think of screwball comedy.

26) Tina Fey or Kristen Wiig?
Tina Fey

27) Name a stylistically important director and the best film that would have never been made without his/her influence.
John Ford/Once Upon a Time in the West

28) Movie you’d most enjoy seeing remade and transplanted to a different culture (i.e. Yimou Zhang’s A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop.)
"Inglorious Basterds" maybe

29) Link to a picture/frame grab of a movie image that for you best illustrates bliss. Elaborate.



Basically because it's of two people who have shared a life together looking out at the ocean, what could be more perfectly blissful than that?

30) With a tip of that hat to Glenn Kenny, think of a just-slightly-inadequate alternate title for a famous movie. (Examples from GK: Fan Fiction; Boudu Relieved From Cramping; The Mild Imprecation of the Cat People)"Fargo, North Dakota"

Movie Review: Machete

"Machete" is a movie made by people who love movies, it's a tribute to classic Grindhouse movies, in fact, its origin comes from the movie experience of the same name. One of the creators of "Grindhouse" was Robert Rodriguez, who's "Planet Terror" was the first of the double feature along with Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof". If you were lucky enough to see "Grindhouse" in the theatre, you would've seen the fake movie trailer for "Machete".

After seeing the trailer, fans and fans must've wrote in to Rodriguez wondering if he ever was going to make the feature length film; whatever the case may be, it worked.

"Machete" is the title characters named, played here by Danny Trejo, a mainstay in many action movies, often playing the heavy, or the badass, he's got the kind of face that looks like it has been run over, but also one that could just look mean the instant you said something nasty to him.

Machete is a former Mexican Federale, his wife and daughter were brutally killed by Mexican drug kingpin (Steven Seagal). Three years later, Machete is on the streets of Texas trying to get work anyway he can. When a greasy man in a limo (Jeff Fahey) sees him in a street fight one day, he hires him as an assassin to kill a Senator (Robert De Niro) who is a strong advocate for tougher immigration laws.

But Machete is doublecrossed, turns out this was all a ploy for the Senator to win by a sympathy vote, soon Machete plots for revenge to all the men who have wronged him, lucky for him, they all seem to be connected.

Machete has many sidekicks along the way to help him, including Michelle Rodriguez who runs an underground resistance for Mexican immigrants, Jessica Alba as an ICE Agent who falls for Machete's charm, and Cheech Marin as his brother who used to fight with him, but has since become a priest.

"Machete" is full of all out, over the top violence, where people from "Grindhouse" would remember, but it's all tongue and cheek and cartoonish, it's never taken seriously. There is one scene where Machete uses the intestines of a man he just cut open to swing from one level of a building to the next, he gets this idea from a doctor who explains that human intestines can stretch out up to forty feet.

The elements are all there, and Rodriguez captures the spirit of the type these types of movies, which he seems to be making over and over again, when he isn't making his "Spy Kids" movies.

Everyone is in on the fun, and hooray for Lindsay Lohan who shows up and plays a character that may be poking fun at her own image, but she may just be laughing along with everyone else.

"Machete" is a nice schlock entertainment, although the grande finale fails to ignite by perhaps putting away the bad guys a little too nicely and neatly, there doesn't seem to be a payoff, however, Machete is off to fight another day, he even gets the girl in the end, and of course there's promise of not one but two sequels, huzzah!

Movie Review: The American

"The American" is that special kind of film that is thoughtful, meditative, and finely tuned, a film that sits with you and you digest it, and it leaves a pleasing aftertaste.

Yes I'm talking about "The American" as if it were a nice meal you would have at a fine restaurant, and like a fine meal it should be savoured. The film is full of surprises and suspense, but at its core it's about a solitary man, a man who must fight to stay solitary no matter how much he might want to let someone in his life.

The main character in the film played by George Clooney is nothing new to cinema, the solitary loner is as common to see in any classic western, or samurai movie, or in this case a spy film.

Clooney plays a character who is either named Jack or Edward, depending on the situation, it isn't made clear whether either of these names is his real one. When we first meet Clooney's character he is in a snowy mountainside with a woman who he is in love with. Moments later, they are ambushed by sniper's and Jack/Edward disposes of them in an orderly fashion but must also kill his lover, the "why" is rather vague, perhaps because he couldn't have any witnesses, or perhaps she was the one who tried to have him killed.

Clooney's character is in this line of business where it is difficult to trust anyone; he works for a mysterious man named Pavel (Johan Leyson) who hires him to create specialized weapons for assassins. His latest client is a woman named Mathilde (Thekla Reuton) a woman we meet three times, all with a different hair color. Mathilde asks for a sniper rifle to be made for a specific purpose that isn't discussed in any great detail; Jack/Edward just needs to know the specifics, and he sets himself to work in a small Italian village.

His character lives alone, he's isolated from everyone, he spends time in his room making the weapon and keeping himself busy staying in tuned with his surroundings and of course doing push ups. It isn't easy to be him, around every corner, he suspects someone following him, he mistakes a backfire from a scooter to be a gunshot, he lives in complete paranoia.

As solace, Jack takes pleasure in the arms of Clara (Violante Placido), a prostitute who works in a bordello, he tries to keep their relationship above the surface, but she falls for him, and they soon fall in love, but again he begins to question her loyalty.

"The American" is a film about a man looking for peace, he is tired of his life of paranoia, he doesn't know how much longer he can last in his world, he wants desperately to let someone in, it's a film that may take some off guard with its visual poetry rather than a straight forward spy story. There is little dialogue said, much of Clooney's character is revealed in the words he says to Clara and to the local priest who he befriends, everything else he keeps hidden.

The film has a more European sensibility than a western one, even the title "The American" makes Clooney's character sound like the foreigner; it was directed by Anton Corbijn, who's only other film was "Control" about the life of Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis, which I have not seen. Corbijn keeps the film quiet and unassuming, it reveals itself to us rather than showing its hand right away, it's a film I appreciated by not letting us know all the answers and not knowing exactly where it is going.

Clooney is our guide into this man who is difficult to know, but we follow him, and we sympathize with the sadness in his eyes, Clooney is great for letting us in the burden his characters bring, it's one of his most silent but provocative roles.

"The American" relies very much on atmosphere, and tone, there is very little plot, had this been a more mainstream film, there would be more of a body count, and much more exposition to figure out what everything all means, I'm happy enough to be lead into a mystery of a man who won't let just anybody in, it's a much more satisfying, and tasteful experience.

A Serious Man

I think somewhere down the line, we all seek for meaning, we've all had that moment where something bad happens to us and we have to ask God why is this happening. Even people who don't necessarily believe in God ask this when things go wrong; because when things go wrong and there is no one to blame, who else is there. Is there meaning to this all, or is it just a series of events that don't add up to anything?

This is the question posed in The Coen Brothers' latest masterpiece "A Serious Man". The story centers on Larry Gopnik, a midwestern physics professor living in the 1960s, who's life is unraveling around him for no particular reason. Larry's wife Judith (Sari Lennik) wants a divorce, she has been seeing a family friend Sy Abelman (Fred Melamed) and wants Larry to get a Jewish ritual divorce so she can marry him.

Larry is also having professional problems, a Korean student is threatening to blackmail after he is given a failing grade on his midterm. Larry is also up for tenure at his university, but the board keeps getting anonymous letters from someone trying to discredit him.

Along with this, Larry's brother (Richard Kind) is living on their couch, his daughter is obsessed with going out all the time, and his son is wanting him to fix the tv antena so he can watch "F-Troop".

Soon, Larry comes to the conclusion that all of this is happening for a reason, therefore he must find answers, he decides to go to a series of rabbis to search for meaning behind all this.

"A Serious Man" is a comedy, thank God, because otherwise this would be a hard film to take, The Coen Brothers are known for their black humour, and also for their merciless treatment of their characters. However The Coens sympathize with Larry's situation, even though he's put through a trial. The film is all about the big questions we all ask ourselves, is their meaning behind anything?

Like all of The Coens films, there isn't really an answer, we're sort of left in limbo at the end of the movie, and like life itself, it leaves us uncertain of what will happen next.

"A Serious Man" is about asking these questions, and the human nature of not being able to accept the mystery that is life. As Larry says to one of the rabbis concerning God's absence in the world "Why does he make us feel the question, if he doesn't give us the answer?" You can sense The Coens are struggling with this question as well particularly with the way the line is delivered.

"A Serious Man" has become a modern take on the story of Job, in that story, Job is put through many tragic circumstances, but we find that this is God testing his faith. I'm not sure this is the case in this film, God is nowhere to be found, yet the characters are struggling with his existence in their lives. It reminds me of "No Country for Old Men" where Tommy Lee Jones mentions how at his age he was expecting God to enter his life some how, but he doesn't.

In the world today, God is talked of less and less, The Coens don't make him appear as if Larry were Moses, and that is what is so frustrating for him, as the audience we can feel what Larry is feeling, we've all been there, luckily, this is done with wicked black humour, that makes it go down easier.

At the end of the film, we are left with the same questions about why bad things happen to good people, but it's a cathartic experience seeing Larry's trials and tribulations, we are able to laugh at it, and perhaps that is one way we can accept the mystery.

The Coen Brothers: An Overview

I'm hoping to start a new series in which I take an overview of a director's film work and give them an overview. This deals with my personal tastes and how I rank their body of work. These are only the directors who's entire body of work I've seen so I've decided to start with the brothers who in my opinion are the best filmmakers working today. The Coen Brothers...Let's begin.

The Masterpieces

1. Miller's Crossing: A stunning piece of filmmaking that never grows old for me. This is my most watched Coen Brothers movie, it's highly entertaining, it's funny, tragic, hardboiled, mysterious, and marvelous to look at, all in all it encompasses why the Coens remain interesting today.

2. Barton Fink: The Coen's follow up to "Miller's Crossing" is just as mysterious, funny, and tragic. It deals with a writer who lives in the life of the mind. He's a Broadway golden boy whisked away to Hollywood to work on a Wrestling picture. He lives in one of the strangest Hotels known to man, he tries to grasp with writing about the common man, yet becomes unglued to the world around him. Basically it's a horror story about a writer and is not to be missed.

3. Fargo: Strangely enough, this violent, dark comedy is one of the Coen's most optimistic, light hearted and poetic films. A series of murder happens in North Dakota which brings together a bunch of desperate characters who come up against a very pregnant town sheriff. The Coens blend genres like they never have before and add stark beauty to the snowy wastelands of North Dakota, ending with one of their most touching finales.

4. No Country for Old Men: A stark contrast to "Fargo", but every bit as profound, it's a meditation on violence and the evils in the world, and what we are capable of facing, and the mystery about what is out there waiting for us. "No Country for Old Men" represents a change of pace for the Coens, their films afterwards have taken a darker tone.

5. A Serious Man: Their latest masterpiece and perhaps their darkest film, even though it's a comedy. It concerns a physics professor in the 1960s who is trying to come to grips as to why his life is unraveling around him. His wife is leaving him, a student of his is trying to blackmail him, he keeps getting anonymous letters from someone trying to sabotage his chances of getting tenure, and his son keeps bothering him to fix the satellite dish so he can watch "F-Troop"

6. Raising Arizona: Their first comedy is probably their best, it's about an ex-con and his policewoman wife who plot to kidnap a baby since they have none of their own. The Coens sometimes go too far with their broad comedy, but here, we get a sense of actually sympathizing with these people, and even though their plan is immoral, we root for them to create what they hope will be a normal family.

7. O Brother Where Art Thou?: Set in the depression era deep south, three escaped convicts bust out of a chain gang to look for some treasure. Probably The Coen Brothers most pleasant film, full of delightful word play, and puns. Boundaries aren't pushed, but they seem to ask us to enjoy the journey as we follow these three misfits through a Coens' odyssey.

The Underrated

1. Burn After Reading: The Coens all-star ensemble dark comedy about espionage and physical fitness. Although the film was one of the brother's best films financially, it was pretty much ignored by critics who claimed it to be another one of the Coens broad comedies about a bunch of idiots. Here The Coens go for darker than usual, unlike their other comedies before this which end with some sort of silver lining, this one leaves us shocked and a tad uneasy, but laughing all the way there.

2. The Man who Wasn't There: Why this isn't ranked higher in The Coens body of work I don't know. This has Billy Bob Thorton in one of his best roles as a barber who murders his wife's lover to money. It's filmed in beautiful black and white and sets its own pace. Like many of their films, many of the big questions are asked and we are left to ponder the mystery behind them. For anyone who hasn't seen this gem yet, seek it out.

The Overrated

1. The Big Lebowski: Although I thoroughly enjoy this film, I guess I'm tired of it being "THE" comedy by The Coens that gets all the attention. Jeff Bridges is "The Dude" there's no doubt about it, and John Goodman has never had a better movie role than he does here, but this film suffers from over exposure, I hope people discover many of the Coens other lesser known comedies, I'd start with "A Serious Man" myself.

The Misfires

1. The Ladykillers: Although not entirely without its merits, I find this to be the weakest of The Coen Brother's films. If anyone was to remake the classic Ealing comedy starring Alec Guinness, the Coens seem to be the ones to do it, their knack for dark humour fits that film's sensibility. However, I felt for once, the wit of The Coens is lost, and the stupidity of the characters takes over too much. Tom Hanks revels in his role, and like most of their films it's great to look at, it's just a film that doesn't seem to stick out.

The Others

1. Blood Simple: Their first film and for some, still their best, for me this is an exercise in style but just a bit more interesting than most filmmaker's first movies. Here you get to see The Coens knack for unique and surprising twists to their stories, you absolutely have no idea where it's going. This is just a taste to what films like "Fargo" and "No Country for Old Men" would deliver.

2. The Hudsucker Proxy: This was actually the first Coen Brothers film I ever saw, I was very young at the time, I didn't get most of the jokes, but even back then I knew it was a unique looking film. After seeing it again for the first time since, I'm a bit wary, it's full of ingenius filmmaking most notably a silent montage which introduces the birth of the hoola-hoop. Jennifer Jason Leigh does an homage to Barbara Stanwyck and Katherine Hepburn, and Paul Newman makes a wonderful snarly villain, however the ending is abrupt and done almost cynically, perhaps in time my opinion of this film will change.

3. Intolerable Cruelty: After reviewing this film I now hold it in better esteem. This was The Coens romantic comedy, I think it works mainly for some spirity dialogue, and the chemistry between George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones. This is a screwball comedy in every sense of the word that harkens back to Preston Sturges. Much like "The Hudsucker Proxy" which was their other mainstream movie, I felt it was too cynical the first time I watched it, and also loud and obnoxious, I have since done an about-face and find it quite charming and ingenius in parts.

Gran Torino: A Second Look

When "Gran Torino" was released in 2008, it was advertised as Clint Eastwood's swan song, his final film as an actor. Many people considered the performance the best in his long career, putting heart and pathos to his "Dirty Harry" persona he made popular since the 70s.

I saw "Gran Torino" in the theatre when it was first released, I've seen all of Eastwood's films he's directed at least since his masterpiece "Unforgiven" in 1992, I love his no frills style, he's able to strip away his films to the bare minimum, while younger filmmakers are making rock and roll, it's as if he's strumming along on a jazz guitar, slow and steady but making every second count. Eastwood's films never seem to be in a hurry to make it to their destination, but the urgency of the story is there, and he always has something to say.

"Gran Torino" has all the elements of a classic Eastwood story and shares many similarities to another one of his great films "Million Dollar Baby". The story is rather old fashioned and in lesser hands could've come off as cliche; it's the story of Walt (Eastwood) a recent widower and old crank who lives alone in a multi-cultural neighbourhood. Walt is very old school, he served in Korea and has seen his share of action; he's more or less alienated from his two sons who can't seem to talk to him, and he has nothing but contempt for his grandchildren who don't seem to show any respect.

Walt also isn't crazy about living next door to a Chinese family, he doesn't hide his prejudices, and he has no problem speaking his mind, even if it falls under not being politically correct.

Things change however one fateful night when Walt inadvertently gets involved with his neighbour's lives. When Walt scares away some gang members who are trying to recruit the son of the family, they become eternally grateful. The family later drops food and other items of gratitude at Walt's front door, and they don't stop even when he shouts he doesn't want any of their help.

Walt's heart soon softens when the daughter of the family Sue approaches him and is not deterred by his attitude. She invites him over for a barbecue and where he also meets Tao (Bee Vang), the young boy who the gang was trying to recruit.

As punishment for trying to steal Walt's Gran Torino, his family sends him over to work for him. It's here where the story goes into familiar territory where the aged Walt teaches Tao how to be a man, and the two begin to bond. However hovering beyond the pleasantness is the fact that Tao isn't given much of a chance of a normal life with the gang hellbent on recruiting him.

I'm not exactly sure what I felt when I first saw "Gran Torino", it was a Clint Eastwood film, and I thought maybe I was falling under the spell of what I was supposed to expect from his movies, perhaps I was blinded a bit, despite all the good press it was getting I wasn't sure it deserved all the praise, so I decided to see it again.

In many ways "Gran Torino" works as just a terrific old fashioned story, the elements are there to make it all irresistible. For me it does fall short of being a masterpiece, and that I think it becomes a little too aware of itself. Eastwood is known for his subtle direction, he doesn't try to wow us with big camera techniques that draw attention to itself, he puts his trust to the material and the acting. With "Gran Torino" perhaps Eastwood was trying to stretch himself by hiring some unprofessional actors in the pivotal roles of Tao and Sue, and unfortunately it works against him, particularly when they must share the screen with Eastwood who has made Walt into one of his all time enduring characters.

It is indeed Eastwood's performance that makes this film work, and why he is so admired. Eastwood like Walt I imagine is a man who has his own value system, he is no-nonsense but comes with great wisdom. I think the reason we root for Walt is his value system and their is a certain dignity in that, he lives by a certain code, and from his early days working with Sergio Leone, all of his characters live by one.

Eastwood is now in his late seventies, and his films seem to take on a different tone than his earlier ones, and you can sense through Walt's final gesture in the film what Eastwood now believes and it is here that the film strays away from cliche and becomes something more thoughtful and moving.

There are problems with "Gran Torino", which just puts it below perfect for me, however I wouldn't be surprised if this film turns out to be Eastwood's most beloved film, and the one he could be most remembered for. Even the catchphrase "Get off my lawn" in the film has the power to follow "Go ahead, make my day."

I'm not sure if "Gran Torino" is a brilliant piece of filmmaking, but it is good Hollywood entertainment with one of the last real stars showing off what makes him so enduring after all these years, I wouldn't be surprised if my admiration for the film will grow each time I see it.