If you were to ask me yesterday what the best movie of 2008 was, I would say The Dark Knight hands down. When I saw Gran Torino earlier today, I came away from it moved and inspired. The movie reminded me a lot of one of my favorite films of all time, American History X. I think what I loved about it most was that it's not too preachy, and it doesn't jam its message down your throat like other dramas these days.
Speaking of dramas, Torino isn't really a drama at all until the third act. The movie functions more as a black comedy, with Eastwood playing up Kowalski's "grumpy old man" character as much as he can. What seperates Kowalski from your typical old bastard is that they humanize him just enough so that you really grow attached to his character. We get a perfect division between comedy and tragedy that ends in a....well, I'm not going to spoil it for you.
I really don't want to talk further about this movie, because I think it's best experienced with no background information. I will say this though: It has been in limited release for a while now, which is why it qualifies for 2008 for me. It got wide release last weekend.
I sincerely hope that the critics get over their boners for Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire because as far as I'm concerned this is the best picture of the year. The DVD release can't come soon enough, and Walt Kowalski will go down as one of those unforgettable characters of cinema history. Right up there with Dirty Harry.
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