Clint Eastwood makes our day, once again! : Gran Torino

"Go ahead PUNK, make my day"

This line is arguably one of the most recognizable movie lines of all time. Uttered by Clint Eastwood in the 1971 classic, Dirty Harry, Eastwood has etched himself into cinema lore by putting on many classic performances. Films such as Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby have solidified Eastwood's place in film today as one of the best directors of all time. Recently though, it is what he did in front the camera that caught my attention.

In Gran Torino, Eastwood plays a racist veteran who resembles that crazy old man who lives on every block, but, as the movie progresses, Eastwood's character surprisingly begins to wear on you and you begin to see Eastwood's brilliance as an actor. His character, Walter Kowalski, is near death and does not have a single thing to live for. He has lived in the suburbs of Detroit for years, and in the past decade the amount of Asian-American immigrants has increased tenfold to his chagrin. He demonstrates his racist views by calling them names such as "zipper heads" and "gooks," and to add further fuel to the fire he catches an Asian teenager named Thao trying to steal his cherished 1972 Gran Torino. Rather than blowing the kid's head off, he takes him under his wing and tries to make a man out of him, and as the story progresses both characters evolve and you can't help but take interest in both of them.

I can't help but feeling sad due to the fact that Eastwood has officially retired from acting. He states that he has done all that he can do in that particular field, and although I do feel a bit of sorrow, I am looking forward to his future projects behind the camera.