any which way you can to hang ‘em high

I have to admit; I’ve enjoyed just about all (if not all) of Clint Eastwood’s movies. He is a talented actor and director. I grew up watching his westerns and of course the Dirty Harry series of movies. Very few actors have me anticipating the next movies they are working on. Eastwood is one, and his latest movie, Gran Torino, did not disappoint!
Myself and others from our studio, Disciplined Monkey Studios had the honor of watching a press release version of this film. The movie is not quite what you would expect, but well worth watching. It’s a movie that will move you, make you laugh, and like get angry at some of the characters. Now some information for you. Clint Eastwood not only is the lead actor in this movie, but he is also the director and producer. Many of the actors have only this film in their filmography , although you will see a few familiar faces. Now onto the spoilers!


This movie is just plain solid. A great piece of work. The Story revolves around Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) and is next door neighbors. Walt is a Korean War veteran who just lost his wife and is frankly a bitter old man. His neighbors are a Hmong family, who came here after the war for a better life. Walt finds himself struggling with a son and daughter in-law along with their kids that obvious don’t like the old man and can’t seem to wait for him to die and want him in a retirement home. You will not like their characters. And as the story progresses Walt becomes intangled in the lives of his neighbor’s son and in between an asian/ Hmong gang. Now thats where the story real gets interesting and you realize why they named the movie after Walt’s car. And thats a really cool car. Without giving you anymore spoilers that would reveal too much. You’ll see some twists and turns and you may not expect the end to end the way in which it ends. I will warn that there are a lot of racial words said in this film, and that the gangs and Hmong family and people are fairly accurately represented. Not really a movie for young kids, but it does teach some good lessons. I’d say teens ok. Overall, if your a parent- watch it first.


In all this is a movie well worth watching, and although I’ve already seen it. I will be watching it in theaters on Friday, January 9th and I plan on buying it on DVD later this year as well.
I wonder what Clint Eastwood has in store for us next?

What do you think?