“A” Rating by Robert W. Hammerle

When all is said and done, few things in life truly age as graciously as fine wine. For dedicated movie fans everywhere, thank the merciful heavens that Clint Eastwood is one of them.

“Gran Torino” is not only a great movie, but it is also a significant work of art. Gripping, warm and tender, it is also quite surprisingly one of the most humorous films of the year. No, it may not be the best picture released in 2008 (i.e. “Slumdog Millionaire”), but I dare say that it is the most thoroughly enjoyable.

Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, a cranky, bigoted, retired autoworker living in a decaying neighborhood in his hometown of Detroit. Recently widowed, he spends his days mired down in his isolation and contempt for the world. Simply put, Walt Kowalski is an unhappy old man.

A Korean War veteran, he is also a haunted man. You have a feeling that something happened during combat that he has never forgiven himself for, and he is far too stubborn to seek forgiveness from anyone else.

Largely alienated from his two adult sons and their families, the only thing that he shows a remote amount of affection for is his old dog and vintage Gran Torino that he keeps in immaculate condition. Beyond that, Kowalski seethes about nearly everything, not the least of which is the fact that his neighborhood is largely being taken over by immigrants from Southeast Asia. Everything upsets Kowalski, and it takes very little for him to snarl and growl.

In particular, he contemptuously dismisses young Father Janovich (played by Christopher Carley), the parish priest who ministered to his wife during her last days. He views the young priest as knowing nothing about life and death, and accuses him of selling snake oil to vulnerable, dying women who believe in religious fairytales.

Additionally, old man Kowalski has never met a colorful ethnic or racial slur that he did not like, and no one is spared his continual verbal assaults. His flowery use of otherwise contemptible language is almost poetic in its scope. And as hard as it is to believe, it is also as stunningly funny as it is socially inappropriate.

But just when you are ready to dismiss Kowalski as a wretched recluse who deserves to stew in his own squalor, he is drawn out of his self-imposed emotional prison when he becomes involved with a family of immigrants who move in next door. His evolving relationship with a young boy, Thao, is particularly remarkable to behold.

Initially despising Thao after he catches him trying to steal his Gran Torino, he takes the lonely boy under his wing as a neighborhood ethnic gang tries to draw him into their circle. It turns out that there is a soft heart beating inside the old man’s gruff exterior. This is particularly displayed as he gradually softens to the polite entreaties of Thao’s sister, Sue Lor.

Bee Vang and Ms. Ahney Her play Thao and Sue, and they both are truly dazzling. They define the tenacity of people courageous enough to leave their home country to try and establish a life on foreign shores. It would be wise for all of us to remember them when we think of the millions of Hispanic immigrants living under the radar screen in this country at the present time.

Inevitably, and as clearly suggested by the previews of this extraordinary movie, there is a confrontation coming between Walt and the gang members who are harassing Thao and Sue. Without giving anything away, it is both violent and spiritually uplifting. The transformation of Eastwood from a rather unlikable Archie Bunkeresque bigot into someone who is still trying to find meaning in life is as powerful as it is profoundly moving.

The quality of Mr. Eastwood’s movies is astonishing. Here is a guy who has evolved from Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns and the callousness of Dirty Harry Callahan into one of the most sensitive moviemakers working today. That he is doing so at the age of 78 is more than remarkable, it is truly miraculous.

While one can only hope that Mr. Eastwood will continue to grace us with his presence in future films, the end is clearly near at hand. If Walt Kowalski is his last role, then he leaves us with a glorious character that is defined by his weaknesses, regrets and sorrows. Yet just as he served his country in war, so to is willing to sacrifice himself to save a friend.

It is unsung, flawed ordinary men who are frequently American heroes. Walt Kowalski was such an ordinary man.