Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino: Who Knew He Could Act? Like John Wayne in True Grit, it May Lead to an Oscar
Clint Eastwood is an American icon, having been a major movie star since the sixties. His films have made millions and millions of dollars for his company and the studios that have produced them. As a director, he surprised us, first with the quirky Breezy , starring William Holden in 1973, and through the years with epic and meaningful dramas.
But as an actor he was not distinguished. His fame and fortune rested on magnificent good looks and a no-nonsense personality that rode him through the westerns and Dirty Harry movies. Other than his tall stature and a handsome face, his rather monotonous and spiritless speaking style didn't lend much and thus limited his range, save for a few poignant moments in films like Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, where the force of the movies, which won him Oscars for directing and producing, landed him two acting nominations.
However, in Gran Torino, which I saw at the Directors Guild theatre last night, it all came together and he was gifted with a role that fit perfectly with his persona. Because of it, and perhaps in spite of his limitations, what emerged was a lovely portrayal -- not always easy to watch -- of a man faced with a transition that comes just in time at the tail end of his life.
It's a simple story, which Eastwood produced and directed as well, about a curmudgeonly old man, who has just lost his wife. He doesn't get along with his kids and grandchildren and seems to have a humorless and insensitive attitude towards life.
Added to that, he is enormously prejudiced. A bigot that would make Archie Bunker appear almost liberal. His Michigan neighborhood has been overrun with Southeast Asians, mostly Hmong from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and to say he is not welcoming would be an understatement.
He has neither empathy or interest in them and resents their intrusion into his way of life. He doesn't hesitate to pepper his initially brief and hostile conversations with them calling them every known racial epithet under the sun.
A momentary action changes this when a gang harasses the family next door and they intrude upon his modest lawn. He comes forth with an old army issued rifle he has kept since the Korean war, more intent on getting everyone off his property than aiding his beleaguered neighbors.
However, they and everyone in the vicinity treat him like a hero, bringing him food and flowers, the latter of which he immediately tosses into the trash. Without giving up any of the plot further, he is forced into a relationship with Thao, the studious teenage boy next door, who is being pressured to join an Asian gang, played in a wonderful tormented fashion by Bee Vang, and also unexpectedly forges a bond with the boy's sister, Sue, imbued with terrific spirit by Ahney Her.
Eastwood's voice is not suddenly full of fire. It is equipped with an old man's crackle and doesn't often shift no matter the emotion of the moment. But in this story by Dave Johansson and Nick Schenk and with the spare and pointed dialogue in Nick Schenk's screenplay, and with those ever haunting eyes that always made you believe Eastwood would kill you as Dirty Harry, it all comes together and works.
Perhaps only for this film in this wonderful manner, but no matter because it's a superb achievement.
There are wonderful actors who never become stars and a few who did like Laurence Olivier, Dustin Hoffman and the younger generation's Leonardo DiCaprio. And there are stars like Eastwood, who like John Wayne, managed to wow audiences via the sheer scope of their personality.
John Wayne found True Grit towards the end of his career and now Clint Eastwood has done the same with an unforgettable performance in Gran Torino, a film that is so simple in its telling that it almost slips by how powerful it really is.
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"Who knew he could act?" The movie going public has known that for three or four decades now. Where the hell have you been? He has also become a first class director as well.
The Hmong people actually came from the mountains of Laos, not Vietnam nor Cambodia. They were forced to leave their homeland because they helped the US secretly fight the Vietcongs and Khmer Rouge in the Vietnam War. Thus, the Hmongs were shipped through the world. Majority of them are in the US.
I'm glad to see a movie about the Hmong people, but from watching trailer the portrayal of the Hmong people seems inaccurate.
White Hunter, Black Heart was a masterpiece. But then again, I've never really seen a bad Clint movie. Based loosely on John Huston's life (the great film director), this film is every bit as good as "Out of Africa" (the continent).
I agree that Eastwood's "White Hunter, Black Heart" is a worthwhile film and a credit to Peter Viertel's 1953 novel inspired by his experiences during the making of "The African Queen." Though not a great commerical or critical hit, it is one of those films that will be a part of future Eastwood retrospectives. By using his commercial success as an actor to expand into directing and take some chances, Eastwood is now the closest equivalent we have to a John Huston or a John Ford or Howard Hawks. The fact he is able to make films in an efficient way and often come in under budget ,does not hurt. I sometimes wonder if some of the old pros he met while doing the Rawhide tv series in the late 1950sand early 1960s ,deserve some of the credit for his directing success along with later mentors such as Don Siegel and Sergio Leone. I gather Eastwood's future plans include directing Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. All this after being written off by many and shot at by the likes of Pauline Kael for many years. Way to hang in there Clint!
A lot of people (especially American critics) never took Clint seriously as an artist until Unforgiven.
When Clint won the Oscar, he thanked European critics for taking his work seriously.
Out of all Clint's contemporaries, Clint is the only one still standing with his dignity intact. In a town where dignity is bought cheaply, Eastwood has managed to keep it close to his heart for 40 years.
When Eastwood started out, he was treated like chattel, as actors often are. When he embarked upon his directing career, he remembered those early days. The consensus among actors is Eastwood is their favorite director because he truly loves and respects them. During the filming of "In the Garden of Good and Evil," he had his production people communicate via wireless walkie-talkie with earphones, resulting inan actor-friendly quiet set. John Cusack marveled and wondered why all directors didn't practice this. They do now.
Eastwood has always received a level of respect from actors that goes against his shoot 'em up screen persona. He caught some flack from the feminist movement when he punched Jessica Walter's character through the plate glass window in "Play Misty For Me," until co-star Donna Mills came to his defense with unabashed support for Eastwood by relating how he track her down in Chicago for the role of his girlfriend and was adamant about casting her and only her.
One can imagine Eastwood silently observing his early directors like John Sturges, Don Siegel and Sergio Leone, mentally taking notes on how these masters performed the complex task of directing actors.
The subtlety and emotional depth of his acting in "Unforgiven" and "Bridges" and "In the Line of Fire" and "Million Dollar Baby" can be traced back to 1971's "The Beguilded." Eastwood has always been a great screen actor; it just took the rest of us forty years to realize it.
He doesn't work people to death either. A lot of film sets have very long days of shooting (up to 19 hours a day), but Clint shoots in an eight hour day, sometimes less, which makes actors and everyone happy.
And he makes great films as well.
For the record, his directorial debut was the chilling "Play Misty For Me" with Jessica Walter in 1971. And for the record, Eastwood has always been a good filmmaker: both as an actor and as a director.
Sorry you didn't notice this before...
Eastwood has been giving fine, subtle performances for years. I thought that was a given among film buffs. As for John Wayne, anyone who had ever seen "Red River" or "The Searchers" wasn't waiting around for "True Grit" for proof that Wayne was a great screen actor.
Who are you guys kidding.. Bronco Billy was the best w.. Well.. it was about a western performer, and Clint killed (as in killed it) in that movie.
All of our legends were great actors. The wonderful thing about everyone from Olivier to Eastwood is that you really can't tell they're acting. And isn't that the point? Any glance at IMDB will show the great body of work that Clint has amassed, and everyone has their favorites, so I won't bore you with the details, but I think anytime he's talking and not growling is the mark of a good Eastwood performance.
i thought clint was very good in Bridges of Madison County
Bridges of Madison County is one of my all time favorite movies...he was amazing in that one.
Bridges is one of my favorite Clint movies. He gives a great performance along with Meryl Streep. His direction is also superb.
It's also an intelligent, adult romantic movie, something Hollywood rarely does. Most romantic Hollywood movies are unrealistic and foolish.
Yes, his performance in (and direction of) it were very good imo.
I agree too.
William Muny will not soon be forgotten. I type as I hum the theme song.
Aw, c'mon, Clint's always been a talented actor... he may not have a great range, and lacks the chameleonoid qualities some actors possess which enable them to reinvent themselves in different roles... but he makes his characters believable, playing them skillfully and with conviction.
And Unforgiven... may be the best Western ever made... pure genius.
Agreed.
best western ever made is Shane....it still holds up to this day.....The Searchers is right up there too
the re-make of '3:10 to Yuma', Dances with Wolves, Open Range- all are the best of the modern western, next to Unforgiven.
Clint Eastwood is a national treasure. If you go on the Warner Brother's tour, you will see a letter from Paul Newman to Clint Eastwood, encased in glass congratulating him on the "rare achievement" that was "Unforgiven." Eastwood had to pester--in his respectful manner--Gene Hackman to portray the role of Little Bill. Hackman didn't want to do it, and was in semi-retirement at the time, devoting himself to his other love, painting. Finally he agreed. The result? An Oscar for Hackman, who is also a national treasure. During the post-Oscar interview Hackman was at first speechless, then positively giddy. All he could manage was, "This is all right, this is all right." Eastwood as a filmmaker and a person has the same effect on me.
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