Friends of Torino #1
"Clint Eastwood is America's great humanist director at present, making eloquent calls for compassion in films like Million Dollar Baby, Letters From Iwo Jima and this year's Changeling, but never at the expense of spinning a good yarn.
"Gran Torino is a plea for racial tolerance but also a compelling story of friendship which lingers in the mind when the extravagances of Benjamin Button and Australia have faded from memory.
"As with Eastwood's other recent films, the film is ultimately a tearjerker with a momentously moving finale. As Clint's own gravelly voice starts up over the end credits singing the mournful title song, it's genuinely sad to think we might not see him act again, but somehow fitting that he should bow out with Walt Kowalski." -- Screen International's Mike Goodridge, writing from London.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 9, 2008 at 6:18 AM
comment #1
byanyother
says ...
He forgot to add badly written, narrow-minded, implausible, silly, insulting.
Posted by byanyother
at December 9, 2008 7:32 AM
comment #2
CitizenKanedforChewingGum
says ...
byanyother just stole p.vice's thoughts on this subject
Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum
at December 9, 2008 8:03 AM
comment #3
btwnproductions
says ...
I prefer the Eastwood the critics scorned, back in his 70s heyday, when he made gritty, audience-pleasing genre pictures and you didn't mind the sloppy, one-take filmmaking. I'd rather see Clyde than Changeling. Pauline Kael must roll in her grave at the "great humanist director" guff, as if he were the new Renoir. I'm sure the pedestal placement amuses Eastwood, too.
Posted by btwnproductions
at December 9, 2008 10:03 AM
comment #4
p.Vice
says ...
This "Friends of Torino" motif is kinda reminding me of that Jon Voight secret society that got revealed a few months ago. Maybe they're one and the same?
Posted by p.Vice
at December 9, 2008 10:23 AM
comment #5
actionman
says ...
trashing Eastwood is getting waaaaay old.
Posted by actionman
at December 9, 2008 10:25 AM
comment #6
lazarus
says ...
...and showering him with accolades and hyperbole isn't?
Posted by lazarus
at December 9, 2008 10:57 AM
comment #7
JD
says ...
"Clint Eastwood is America's great humanist director at present."
Try Jonathan Demme. The greatest humanist director of them all, Jean Renoir, defined his objective as understanduing that everyone has his/her reasons. Well, Eastwood couldn't care less about this kind of humanistic thinking. Not only do most of his characters have no motive for their behaviour, but they don't even make sense. Just look at the villains in Million Dollar Baby or Garn Torino. They are there to serve a plot function and no effort is made to explain or understand anything they're doing. They're simple-minded cliches that reflect a simple, black-and-white worldview.
"Gran Torino is a plea for racial tolerance..."
No, it's not. All the movie says is that, while most members of any non-white race is comprised of violent, inhuman, unthinking animals, there are always a few quiet types who are inexplicably submissive to hateful, racist white authority. Remember, those are the role models in Gran Torino. The non-whites who are happy to be mocked and ridiculed... as long as they have the opportunity to spend time with the almighty white man are the characters we're told to admire most. After all, who else are they gonna hang out with, the randomly violent rapist members of their own race? Of course not!
Posted by JD
at December 9, 2008 11:04 AM
comment #8
erniesouchak
says ...
Gran Torino is moronically simplistic, a shot aimed at the cheap seats. Sure, Eastwood has some amusing moments, but really, it says something about the overall wretchedness of Hollywood's output this year that this movie and Dark Knight are considered Best Pic contenders.
Posted by erniesouchak
at December 9, 2008 11:59 AM
comment #9
EDouglas
says ...
I love how if you like a movie, you only post good reviews... but if you hate a movie, you only post bad reviews. I guess that's your prerogative but I don't think you've ever tried to give a fair and balanced view of anything... that's not necessarily meant as an insult... just something I've noticed.
Posted by EDouglas
at December 9, 2008 4:09 PM
comment #10
janee
says ...
Si vous etes interesses par le dossier, ou desirez en savoir plus, contactez-moi par mail, et je vous mettrai en contact.
Best regards,Jane, CEO of high availability clustering
Posted by janee
at May 19, 2011 3:39 AM