GRAN TORINO

Genre: Crime, Drama
Director: Clint Eastwood
Rated: M
Released: 2008
Country: US

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Retired auto worker Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) fills his days with home repair, beer, and monthly trips to the barber. The people he once called his neighbours have all moved or passed away, replaced by the Hmong immigrants he despises. Resentful of virtually everything he sees - the drooping eaves, overgrown lawns and the foreign faces surrounding him; the aimless gangs of Hmong, Latino and African American teenagers who all think the neighbourhood belongs to them; the callow strangers his children have grown up to be - Walt is just waiting out the rest of his life. Until the night someone tries to steal his Gran Torino. When Hmong gang-bangers pressure his shy teenaged neighbour Thao (Bee Vang) to try and steal the car, Walt stands up to the gang, making him the reluctant hero of the neighbourhood - especially to Thao’s mother and older sister, Sue (Ahney Her), who insist that Thao work for Walt as a way to make amends. Walt eventually gives in and puts the boy to work fixing up the neighbourhood, setting into motion an unlikely friendship that will change both their lives.