The Movie
Few filmmakers can claim the popularity and longevity of Clint Eastwood, with a gravitas he has keenly exploited on screen, his four-year hiatus from acting notwithstanding. In Gran Torino he portrays Walt Kowalski, a retired auto worker and Korean War veteran with distant, rotten children and even rottener grandchildren. Walt never liked his Asian neighbors much, but one night, while doing the whole mean-old-man, "You kids stay off my property!" bit, he inadvertently becomes a hero to them, and a reluctant protector. What follows is a journey of discovery and redemption, at times tense but also remarkably funny, all the more so owing to a touching performance by Eastwood. How Oscar magnet Clint was not even nominated here (he sings, for Pete's sake!) is beyond me, but I personally enjoyed this movie even more than his multiple-statue-copping Million Dollar Baby.
Be sure to read Mark Grady's take on Gran Torino as well.
The Picture
In a surprising contrast toWalt's hard edge, the 2.4:1 image here is soft, perhaps to diminish Eastwood's well-earned wrinkles? It's better-than-DVD sharpness certainly, but even when we're treated to the detail of the costumes, it's tainted by a bit of aliasing. There's also a definite twitch in shadowy areas and out-of-focus backgrounds, and panning or tracking shots that include the vertical white slats of Walt's or his neighbors' porch fences suffer from an inescapable strobing.
The Sound
Let me begin by exclaiming "Thank you, Warner!" for not only providing a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track but for making this the default audio on this disc. (In the past, their Blu-rays have tended to default to lower-quality Dolby Digital.) The mix itself is rather front-heavy, with little rear channel activity, and seldom is it discrete. Maybe there's some music from an approaching car, or some fill. A car might pass in the background, or a bus departs, with modest directionality; a dog barks or a doorbell rings behind us. Eventually there's some thunder, a little rain, a touch of bass when a door slams but a lot of opportunities were wasted. In fact, more than once I checked to make sure I had the TrueHD track engaged. It's fine, but in no way exceptional, save for a drive-by shooting in Chapter 22.
The Extras
The featurette "Manning the Wheel" (nine minutes) explores the deeper significance of the automobile in American society, specifically as it pertains to manhood. "Gran Torino: More than a Car" (four minutes) is a bit further off the point, as we tag along with a car club in suburban Detroit and their "dream cruise" down Woodward Avenue. Title-specific, Clint-specific supplements can be rare, so the Blu-ray-exclusive "The Eastwood Way" (19 minutes) is a real treasure, an overview of the entire moviemaking process with heartfelt insight from the man himself. His soft-spoken real-life demeanor still catches me off-guard. All of the above are in high-definition.
BD-Live promises additional content, which at press time (before the street date) was the trailer for the movie. Disc Two is a DVD containing a Digital Copy for iTunes/iPod and Windows Media Player. Gran Torino is also a participating title in Warner's new "Buy 5 Blu-rays, Get 1 Free" promotion.
Final Thoughts
Grunting, growling, snarling Clint is back, in one of his best movies in ages. The disc may not be high-performance, but Gran Torino still provides a satisfying ride.
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Product Details
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