Get the !@#$ Off His Lawn, and Don’t Steal His “Gran Torino”

Walt Kowalski would rather call you names than hug you. That’s the kind of grandpa he is. His rough language, filled with as many racial slurs as possible, is so abrasive that can make one cringe at first. But after awhile, after the slurs keep coming and coming, the realization hits that this man doesn’t mean what he says because he doesn’t know what he’s saying. He’s just an angry old man who becomes so bitter that all the ammunition he has are words. That is, until he pulls his gun out. Then you know that he’s willing to walk his talk. That’s when those “rotten punks” start running!

Supposedly, Walt loves his Gran Torino. He even protects it when the neighbor kid tries to steal it. However, by the end of the film, the Gran Torino is no longer even part of the story, other than a gift to that same neighbor kid. What Walt does love is fighting injustice. He did it in the war, and he does it on his front porch, one mean old man stare, grimace, and collection of insults at a time. Beneath his rough exterior is, well, a slightly less rough exterior that likes to eat good food and tell the kids how to behave (off his lawn, of course).

“Gran Torino” doesn’t fall into the Hollywood trap of a bitter old man becoming soft hearted. Walt at the end is still as old-man crotchety as he is in the first frame. He just directs his old-man-ness at the gangsters instead of the neighbors. He’s the last of a dying breed, and he’s not going down without a fight. If only we all were as confident, honest, and good as Walt (if not so colorful in our speech)!

It’s easy to tell where the story is heading by the last fourth of the film. Walt must make a tough decision for his newfound Hmong friends. How will he protect them? How can he heal the hurt that has been done to his neighbors? How can he bust those punk gangsters real good one last time?

It’s a good thing Walt figures it out.