Gotta say, this is a wonderful film. Great performance and directing by Clint Eastwood, but the racial element really bugged me. Were we supposed to laugh at the racial insults, cringe, what? Does the film make asians look bad? And Spike Lee had a point, there are only 3 blacks in the film and they are loud mouthed gang bangers. The ending was perfect, but the racial element just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Am I being too pc?

Cringe. It was cringeworthy.

FOr me anyway, it made me really uncomfortable and uneasy. Hopefully that was the intention.

Saw it. Loved it.

Though Clint's character is the hero, we're not supposed to be rooting for his racist words and behaviour. The point of the flick was one man's growth as a person, even if the journey didn't change him completely. He gave his life for his asian neighbours, but he still died a racist. That was the point. IMO that's a more realistic conclusion than if he'd done a complete 180.

meow85 said:

Ya I guess I kinda own it now. It's only like 2 months late now.

TotalANXiousNESS said:

the MOVIE, not the car dear..

leaning that is a very real work, and nothing has to do with the subject of the color of the skin.... the largest critic is not to the asians or the blacks: it is really to the hypocrisy of the Whites, to the moralisms of tsociety and the seniors' subject, a lot of times just seen as financial objects (after his death)

I dug it until Clint started talking about how he wished people could still make racial jokes in an interview he did.

Yep. Good movie.

Vendetta1 said:

I didn't see those interviews

I just watched it this weekend. I found the storyline very predictable and the racist/bigot schtick grew old really, really fast. I also found it odd that the priest character disappeared for most of the middle of the film, considering how determined he was at the beginning; and what happened to Eastwood's character's other son? He was at the church at the beginning and end, but no where in between.


It's wasn't terrible, but I found myself laughing when it wasn't supposed to be funny (kinda like when I watched Graffiti Bridge).

have had this and a handful of other bootlegs () chillin' at the crib for the longest and haven't watched any of 'em yet

Vendetta1 said:

Those comments I just chalked up to generational stupidity. A lot of white folks his age honestly do not see the problem with those kinds of race jokes, but they don't mean anything bad by them. Ribbing on their friend Charlie the Jew (or whatever it was he called the hypothetical Jewish friend) is just something that's done.

meow85 said:

I just brought the DVD home this evening. Thanks for telling me how it ends . . .

SUPRMAN said:

Oops. To bail out meow, you can see it coming from a mile away. Maybe it's even apparent from the trailer. But, IMO, there's enough you won't see coming to make the ending worthwhile. No twists or anything. It's not Sixth Sense.

[I think revealing that there's a "twist" ending is almost as bad as revealing the twist itself.]

And no music throughout. Unusual.

Vendetta1 said:

Clint ? My man Clint.....is a racist ?
Seems all the countries and people I used to admire have their racist coming-out these days. I can´t believe he´s a true racist though...he made a film about Charlie Parker starring Forest Whitaker, and I know someone who knows him from his days as a mayor and hotel owner in Carmel.
What exactly did he say?

2freaky4church1 said:

Why? There are people just like the characters played in the movie.

SUPRMAN said:

He didn't ruin the ending for you, trust me.

I generally liked Gran Torino, except Clint's death at the end was a little too Christ-like with him falling backward with his arms out like Jesus on the cross. That was a little too heavy handed filmmaking I thought.

SUPRMAN said:

Dude, the movie's been out for ages. I thought spoiler warnings were only necessary for something current.

RodeoSchro said:

ahem She.

chocolate1 said:

too

KoolEaze said:

http://prince.org/msg/100/294149 Interesting, huh?

PANDURITO said:

I´m afraid I don´t really get what you´re trying to say by posting a link to another thread about Gran Torino. I liked the movie a lot and I don´t agree with what Spike Lee said because, even though he does have a point, we should also take into consideration the role that Clint played in this movie and the fact that he´s from another generation and probably has no racist intentions whatsoever when he says the things he says, even though I disagree strongly with him. John Wayne on the other hand, while also a Hollywood legend, was way more racist than Clint could ever be, and the things that he said cannot be excused by saying that he´s from another generation.

Anyway....did you like the film ? I think it´s one of the best films I´ve seen in a while.

KoolEaze said:

Yes I liked it.
But if I learned that Clint hates Spain and Spanish culture, guess what? I'd still think it's a brilliant movie

markpeg said:

That bugged me, too.

PANDURITO said:

Ahhh, okay, I see. I must admit, it does reduce my admiration for certain artists when I find out about their skeletons in the closet but I agree with you.I´m a Turk and still enjoy Lawrence of Arabia as a film even though I don´t like the delivery, content or message but it´s still a great piece of cinema history, and I have a lot of books about Salvador Dalí and find him fascinating even though I dislike certain things about him and his world view.

The same goes for Prince....and other celebrities, movies and.....foods.

Here's Gran Torino boiled down to ten minutes..lol

http://www.youtube.com/wa...tk7U-9bUJQ

2freaky4church1 said:

he should play batman

I fell asleep during this movie at the theater.