Gran Torino-Rubbish?

Wheely

Just finished it and was bitterly disappointed. Found myself laughing at what I know were not intended to be funny. Awful script, save Clint horrendous acting and a ridiculous storyline. Thoughts anyone?

ahaaha

if it was anyone else other than Clintie i would have turned it off within half an hour - but the man is a legend!!!

Greyfox

I think it deserves the great reviews it's been getting, great film and a brilliant performance from eastwood!

m83

I cried at the end.

niallon

OP, any chance you could go into more detail as to what you thought was bad about it? I only ask because I loved it and have yet to hear any particular negative comments about it and am curious as to what bugged you. Not disagreeing, everyone's entitled to their opinion, just curious as to what does and doesn't work for people about the film.

Hank Scorpio

thread on this a page or 2 back, abig one at that

I found the film good, but no where near the class of no country for old men

Driver 8

Most films aren't in the class of No Country for Old Men :P

I thought Gran Torino was the best thing Clint's done since Million Dollar Baby.

sillyputty

I loved it, not what i expected from Clint but was pleasantly surprised. I also cried at the end.

What exactly, OP, did you not like about it?

~Rebel~

Thought the movie itself was excellent, Clint was excellent, but the acting of the supporting cast was pretty poor and did take me 'out of the movie' a bit, though still all in all a very good film.

Nichololas

Have the people who love it love it because it has bad-ass grandpappy Eastwood tearing up **** (which is fine, I guess). Haven't worked out what the other half see in it, because I thought it was pretty dire.

Sraw

Its by no means Clints best movie, far from it. But I enjoyed it not that I would be in any rush to see it again.

cashback

I liked it. The first half is hilarious. Not sure if it's intentional or not but there's something very funny about Clint pulling pained faces and spouting outdated rascist nonsense.
I didn't cry at the end and I found the conclusion a bit too convenient but overall I really enjoyed it.

SoupyNorman

I really liked it, just as Clint gave two fingers to all people in the movie I think he made it with two fingers up at people who dont like it.

I justify why I liked it based on the emotions it pulled from me...it made me laugh, it made shout 'get those fukkers' at the TV and I was a tinge choked at the end, yes the movie was quite loose but I didnt care...it was a one off.

Maybe Clint is tired of making the peter perfect the perfect priest movies and wanted to bang one out quickly, thats allowed I think.

Wheely

Ok sorry, I'll explain. I was really looking forward to it and yes, Clint was fantastic but that was literally all. The script was atrocious apaert from Clints funny racism. The supporting actors, ALL of them were terrible, the priest and Tao especially. The sister wasn't quite as bad, but bad. And the plot was a load of crap imo, things escalated for no reason, the gang members acting and dialogue was terrible, their motives completely unclear. So many scenes were ridiculous, the priest outside the gang members house? Why were the cops even allowed take him away from there, was he in custody why not come back of his own accord. They ALL get arrested at the end? Its that easy? Why not arrest them for shooting up the house or raping the girl? And tao wearing the medal at the end, to the house? Such blatant melodramatic bull is pretty nauseating imo. And Im generally a fan, LOVE Unforgiven and Mystic River High Plains drifter, josey wales, really like Million Dollar Baby, and thought Changeling was very decent.

Apart from Clint Gran Torino is rubbish in my opinion. The ending reminded me of something ed zwick would do, even worse in terms of overbearing pulluing at the heartstrings.

Sorry its just an opinion, but thats what i didnt like about it.

Wheely

Also wouldnt mention it in the same breath as No Country for Old Men!

brennaldo

i thaught it was a brilliant film, pity it didnt come out just before the oscars because i think eastwood would have been in there for best actor, but by the time the next oscars come around people would of forgottin it unfortunatly

Indie18

brennaldo wrote: »

i thaught it was a brilliant film, pity it didnt come out just before the oscars because i think eastwood would have been in there for best actor, but by the time the next oscars come around people would of forgottin it unfortunatly

Yeah that or Clint will be dead from old age. I haven't seen the film yet though but have heard its very good from anyone I know who has saw it.

Greyfox

Wheely wrote: »

They ALL get arrested at the end? Its that easy?

I thought the ending was brilliant...they only way that he could be certain that they'd all go to prison!

I personally found this to be far better than No country for old men which in my opinion is one of the most overratted films ever made!

Wheely

Greyfox wrote: »

I thought the ending was brilliant...they only way that he could be certain that they'd all go to prison!

I personally found this to be far better than No country for old men which in my opinion is one of the most overratted films ever made!

with respect, IMO your are wrong on both counts.

Letting a gang kill you is a plan now? How could that ensure they all go to jail? Why dont they just deny it? Or run away? So many ridiculous holes in the "plot"

Ciaran500

Wheely wrote: »

How could that ensure they all go to jail?

Thats why he made a scene before getting shot, lots of witnesses.

Wheely

Ciaran500 wrote: »

Thats why he made a scene before getting shot, lots of witnesses.

Airtight open and shut to i suppose. Pity there were no witnesses/victims to testify against them for assault, rape, attempted murder in course of a drive-by....... Suppose Clints human sacrifice was really the ONLY way that "gang" would go to prison. I stand corrected.

DTrotter

Wheely wrote: »

Airtight open and shut to i suppose. Pity there were no witnesses/victims to testify against them for assault, rape, attempted murder in course of a drive-by....... Suppose Clints human sacrifice was really the ONLY way that "gang" would go to prison. I stand corrected.

Spoiler
Is there not also a redemptive arc? Clint sacrificing himslef as he felt he didn't deserve his medal in the war.

eagle eye

Op you say its not true to life but you list High Plains Drifter among your favourites. You say too much pulling at the heartstrings but you list Million Dollar Baby as one of your favourites. You say that their motives were unclear, you might find this hard to believe but there are some astonishingly horrific areas and lost cultures in the slums in American cities. I lived there I know all about it. There are Vietnemese communties where nobody enters without risking their lives, same with some black areas, and white areas. There are traditions and rituals from old countries and times that have become horribly confused through the generations.

There is a lot more to this movie that you are giving it credit for, the racist angle, or is it racist or just a guy who hates everything. You are given the idea that he didn't come back from the war the same man, but right at the end of the movie he reveals a whole different issue has been affecting him. There is the family side of things also where his own family see him as just a hindrance standing in the way of money going into their own pockets. You then see how the Asian family treat each other and their old folk. And why is he willing to give his own life up for somebody else, is it because his wife is dead and he doesn't want to go on anymore, is it because he has finally come to terms with his troubles, is it because his family don't want to know him and want to just stick him in a old folks home? There is so much to this movie. He is a horrible old man in many ways but you can see that he brought his own family up to be regular successful people in life, as much as he hates the world he still finds time to teach a kid about the value of doing a decent day's work and being your own man. Its about how somebody can decide to put things right. Its about an older America, and there is a tale of how one guy lives in the past and how things have changed. Eastwood's character is tough and bitter, and he can stand up for himself and thats what makes the whole thing plausible. Then there is the fact that he fought in Korea and his neighbourhood is no longer fashionable and poorer Asian families have moved in. Its just wonderfully put together. Some of the acting is not great but the whole movie is built around Eastwood's character so it doesn't really matter that much. In fact Eastwood is so good that the others probably look worse than they actually are when put beside him.
I actually think its one of his best ever and quite possibly his finest piece of work ever.

corcaigh07

Wheely wrote: »

with respect, IMO your are wrong on both counts.

Letting a gang kill you is a plan now? How could that ensure they all go to jail? Why dont they just deny it? Or run away? So many ridiculous holes in the "plot"

i don't see why you're saying the ending was full of holes, clint built up the gangsters so much, they were itching to pull the trigger. by the time he reached into his coat, the whole street is watching with the cops probably on their way already.

i found it a far more interesting and sensible ending than Clint rolling back the years and coming out the right side of a shoot-out.

kraggy

m83 wrote: »

I cried at the end.

So did I. At how bad it was.

Of all the films discussed on here that I didn't like when everyone else did, this one baffles me the most.

goldenbrown

i liked it,

tommyboy2222

I actually think its one of his best ever and quite possibly his finest piece of work ever

Haven't you seen any of his other films ?

eagle eye

tommyboy2222 wrote: »

Haven't you seen any of his other films ?

All of them, and many times.

I would say as a director its between this one and Unforgiven for me but he has so many great ones like Mystic River, The Outlaw Josey Wales, High Plains Drifter, Million Dollar Baby, Letters from Iwo Jima, Flags of our Fathers, Changeling and the list goes on with other gems like Heartbreak Ridge and The Gauntlet just to name two of my other favourites. And then there are so many where he was just an actor like the one of my all time favourites The Good, The Bad and the Ugly and all the other Sergio Leone ones.

So as you can see I'm a huge fan of the man and I do understand how good he has been througout his career as a director and also as an actor. Thats how highly I rate this movie.

Have you seen Thunderbolt and Lightfoot? Just a recommendation there for you if you have not seen it. One of the few Clint movies that a lot of people seemed to have missed along the way.

Anima

Well when I watched it I thought it was a really touching and sad film. Some actors seemed a bit terrible but I was willing to put up with that because Clint Eastwood was in it. Also its Clint fucking Eastwood, who has a great track record with films and is a man's man.

So am I going to believe some retard on boards.ie or with my own instincts and the fact that Clint Eastwood was in it, that it was in fact a great movie? Decisions, decisions..

Not really, it was a great movie you fucking haptards.

Anima

Anima wrote: »

Well when I watched it I thought it was a really touching and sad film. Some actors seemed a bit terrible but I was willing to put up with that because Clint Eastwood was in it. Also its Clint fucking Eastwood, who has a great track record with films and is a man's man.

So am I going to believe some retard on boards.ie or with my own instincts and the fact that Clint Eastwood was in it, that it was in fact a great movie? Decisions, decisions..

Not really, it was a great movie you fucking haptards.

Relax man, so what if some people did'nt like it, they're entitled to their own opinion. As long as you enjoyed it that's all that matters.

jonsnow

Weighing in on the no side here. Clint was great, fine the film however was bad. Bad acting, terrible scriptinging, and i found the storyline pure s**t. I know I'm in the minority here but like the OP i was really looking forward to it and found myself bitterly disappointed.

bladebrew

i just watched it last night i had seen the first 30mins or so a few weeks back and i thought it was goin to continue like it did at the start with eastwood as a racist gun toting looney:),
it was a shock when he softened a bit!

i didnt want to like the end,but i couldnt help it,brilliant in my opinion!!

Con.

jonsnow wrote: »

Weighing in on the no side here. Clint was great, fine the film however was bad. Bad acting, terrible scriptinging, and i found the storyline pure s**t. I know I'm in the minority here but like the OP i was really looking forward to it and found myself bitterly disappointed.

I'd have to agree with that myself, although i thought the film was decent for what it tried to do. But that gang and that Tao kid especially, jaysus! :eek: Brutal! Really dragged it down for me.

tommyboy2222

Have you seen Thunderbolt and Lightfoot? Just a recommendation there for you if you have not seen it. One of the few Clint movies that a lot of people seemed to have missed along the way.

Yeah of course I have seen it. Its not like it was an underground film or anything. Jeff Bridges was brilliant in it.

There's a reason Grand Torino isn't going to win any Oscars. And it isn't because the Academy "forgot" about it.

It would be a shame if its really Clints last film but he's left a great legacy for us to enjoy!