BOTTOM LINE: Clint Eastwood is back doing what he does best, playing it tough; “Gran Torino” has a strong story, great characters, a moral centre and is surprisingly humorous despite its slow pace.

THE GOOD: If there’s one thing that Clint Eastwood is famous for, it’s his tough guy persona, and it’s back in spades in “Gran Torino”. He plays cranky Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski who wants to be left alone, even by his own family whom he has no real connection with. When a family of Asians move in next door, Walt’s life begins to change as he slowly becomes involved in their lives after he indirectly comes to their aid when they are attacked by a gang who happen to take the fight over on to his lawn. Walt, brandishing a shot gun, utters to the gang members in Eastwood’s trademark style, “get off my lawn!”. As he begins to interact with his new friends, Walt begins to find an inner peace and contentment he has never felt, and in the end he is willing to sacrifice his life to ensure their safety. The surprising aspects of “Gran Torino” lie in its character-driven moments, showing the developing relationships between Walt and his neighbours, and in particular Thao (Bee Vang) who tried to steal Walt’s 1972 Gran Torino as part of a forced initiation in to the gang. Walt eventually befriends Thao and the two develop an unlikely mentor-mentee bond. Eastwood has surrounded himself with a cast of unknowns who more than hold the screen with him, including a very impressive Ahney Her who plays Sue Lor, the first of Walt’s neighbours who befriends him, and Christopher Carley who plays a very persistent Father Janovich who promised Walt’s wife that he would watch out for him after she died. The film is quite humorous in parts; Walt’s old-school inflexibility leads to some fantastically funny dialogue when he interacts with not only his Asian neighbours, but also with his family and the neighbourhood priest. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of all is that Eastwood does not take the easy option and go all Dirty Harry in the climax; what he gives us is quite moving and tragic, but strangely compelling and right for the character of Walt. “Gran Torino” is humanistic at its centre, but delivers both humour and drama in a well blended mix that is quite satisfying.

THE BAD: “Gran Torino” takes a while to get going, and even when it does, the delivery is quite slow going. It is a character piece, but a faster pace would have made things better, especially in the opening Act where Walt’s character is established and his new Asian neighbours eventually move in. The tone of the film is good, but there is a sort of flatness to the colour and vibrancy of the images that Eastwood usually imparts in his films that will either work for you or not. The production values also give the sense of a film on a smaller budget. Overall, “Gran Torino” is quite good, but part of you might still have wanted Clint to take out his Magnum 44 and blow the bad guys away despite the fact that it would have been the wrong move to do that in this film. “Gran Torino” makes for a quality two hours of viewing cinema, despite a few shortcomings.