Gran Torino proposed a malleable patriotism that could accept and integrate difference while chiding the stubbornness of Greatest Generation types resisting what was blowing in the wind. That Eastwood’s parable of racial solidarity was riddled with slurs as a form of comic relief meant that the filmmaker wasn’t above pandering to the reactionary peanut gallery, but the film’s acclaim by liberal critics suggested that his heart was in the right place.
— Adam Nayman (The RInger)
Plays out like a match of ping-pong—seemingly aimless and redundant—until the common Eastwood theme of self-actualising America's promise of individualism is whispered in the credits. Aggressive sentimentality is his weapon of choice. Our tears make the final cut.
— Michelle Yoon (Metrograph, Volume 1)
Synopsis: Disgruntled Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski sets out to reform his neighbor, Thao Lor, a Hmong teenager who tried to steal Kowalski's prized possession: a 1972 Gran Torino.