Author: Alton Williams

So here we are…50 plus years in the industry, and another cinema legend is bowing out, in his final screen appearance. Clint Eastwood, in the 1990s, made another swansong from the genre that made his name – Unforgiven was an instant classic…a lament for a lost vision of America…yet one that wasn’t pretty or sentimental. Unforgiven was as hard and callous as any of Leone’s or Siegel’s films set in the prairies and deserts. Unforgiven was an old school western given a realistic, albeit, revisionist angle.

If Eastwood consigned one genre to the past (the genre that made him a superstar), he however plodded on with other films for another eighteen or so years…it’s been a mixed bag, however, the films he has directed in the past five or six years have seen a stunning return to form: Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Flags Of Our Fathers and Letters From Iow Jima.

Now, in what Eastwood acknowledges as his final screen appearance, he lays to rest another of his cinematic icons…Dirty Harry. Gran Torino is not another episode in the life of the San Francisco maverick-cop-with-a-hand-cannon, Harry Callaghan…yet Eastwood’s latest film is certainly in the spirit of those films.

Gran Torino, unlike the Dirty Harry films, has a heart and complex thematic pre-occupations to deal with. In the film, Eastwood plays a Korean war vet named Walt Kowalski, who is bereft of his way of life (a factory worker for Ford) and his recently departed wife. Unlike Dirty Harry, Walt hides his pain in comic indifference to the world around him…yet this man is hiding the pain of lonliness and what he sees as modern culture’s lack of respect for well…anything.

In a Michigan, working class neighbourhood, Kowalski sees himself besieged by ethnic minorities, and his All-American ideals shot to hell. He is a character who longs for company yet retains the stereotype of a grumpy old man. When some Hmong exiles move into the house next door, the old man’s humanity slowly breaks out…however, Kowalski’s humanity is deeply troubled and conflicted due to his past as a soldier. When one character asks him what it was like to kill a man, Walt replies, with anguish burning in his eyes (Eastwood is outstanding in this film) – ‘you don’t wanna know’.

Gran Torino, for all it’s amusing and deliberately racist comments, is a film all about the good and bad elements in all cultures. To accept the politically correct version of life, according to Eastwood’s film is doing more harm than good. Whilst some may argue about its simplistic moralising and stance…Gran Torino is actually a fairly subtle and beautifully played drama.

Sure, the audience will laugh guiltily every time Walt calls his neighbours ‘dinks’, ‘zipperheads’ and whatnot…but it will also see that the joke is on Walt and those that think like him. Ultimately, these ‘dinks’ give Eastwood’s character a beautiful friendship, once his guard and prejudices are caught off guard…the Hmong family next door to Walt end up the best family he ever had.

The story of Gran Torino could have come from any silly racist comedy…the type prevalent in 1970s England where a minority group moves next door to a white person…yet that is exactly the point of the whole film. It might all be amazing for those embracing multi-culturalism from a distance…but what if, like most white working class communities over the years, multi-culturalism wasn’t some ‘exotic’ option…because the ethnic minorities don’t pitch up in the middle class suburbs…they are thrown in with the others and that is exactly what Gran Torino is about.

Whilst the overly-melodramatic ending is satisfying…it does leave open many questions. As Eastwood’s last film, it implies that Dirty Harry finally finds his humanity amongst all the scum. Gran Torino is also a beautifully played comedy at times…a comedy of errors. Special mention must also go to the actress, Ahney Her as Sue, Walt’s conduit to the Hmong world and his guide.

Gran Torino is a most fitting swan song for one of cinema’s greatest icons. It’s a sad day indeed. Oh, and stay for the ending credits…the audience is treated to the dulcet tones of Mr. Eastwood crooning the film’s closing song…sounding like Tom Waits’ grandfather eating gravel…Eastwood hasn’t sung on film since Paint Your Wagon in the 1960s.

Marley & Me **½

Following up such films as Bolt, Hotel For Dogs and Beverly Hills Chihuahua, here comes the latest dog canine themed family movie to reach British cinema screens following a wildly successful run at the US box office. Based on the book by John Grogan, which itself was based on his own newspaper column in which he made his own humorous observations about everyday life, including charting the antics of his pet dog Marley, Marley & Me is a stark contrast to those aforementioned films in that it is firmly a real world movie as opposed to the more fantastical approaches taken with those other films.

John (Owen Wilson) and Jennifer (Jennifer Aniston) Grogan are two newspaper writers
who move to Florida after their wedding to begin their life together. It isn’t long before Jennifer wants to have a baby but John doesn’t feel ready for that step so he gets her a puppy in an attempt to stall her biological clock. John and Jennifer immediately feel a bond forming with the puppy they choose, who they name Marley, and soon they have welcomed him into their home. However, Marley is full of energy and is lacking in discipline, and begins making their lives very difficult. Their bond is strong though and as Marley grows bigger and bigger, whilst not gaining any self-discipline, John and Jennifer’s love for him never goes away. Marley’s antics also give John rich material for his newspaper column in which he offer a humorous perspective on everyday life. As the Grogans mature and their family grows, with three children coming over the years, Marley remains at their side, and the bond that he shares with the family remains until the very end.

The choice of director for Marley & Me seemed very promising. David Frankel previously directed another journalist themed film in the form of The Devil Wears Prada with the result showing that he is a very capable and talented director. Sadly, however, his latest directorial effort is a long way from that film, although this isn’t really through any fault of his own but rather the fact that the source material doesn’t translate to the big screen in a wholly successful manner. When the film works it is very charming and thoughtful and will be certain to move even the most hard-hearted of individuals, but the film doesn’t settle for this, and strives to be more. This is where the problems lie. Combining elements of comedy, romance and drama, the film attempts to be more than all of these but is not wholly successful in blending them together, with the film not being funny enough to really be considered a comedy, lacking too much in the romance department to really be considered a romance and not being nearly engaging enough to be successful as a drama. As such, the film suffers from an identity crisis. The film as a whole would certainly work better if either one direction had been chosen of the three elements had been blended together with a greater degree of success. Another problem is that while the film has been heavily marketed towards a family audience it may be too slow moving for really young children who will likely find it rather boring at times while also too lacking for mature viewers who may find it to be too lacking in substance. However, while the flaws are evident, the film is certainly not without its positive aspects. Marley himself is totally cute and adorable and it is hard not to be won over by his charm, even when he is being an extremely bad dog. And, even as he gets bigger he never ceases to be so delightful. Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston make for a very charming and endearing couple and for the most part they are also quite a believable couple, making everything that happens seem completely realistic. Their performances could be classified as love it or hate it though, with people who don’t particularly like either of them best steering clear of this film. The story the film tells is so nice that it is hard to find faults with it on a base level. Essentially being about life as much as a dog, the film reflects effectively the way things change in the real world. It is just a feel-good story that comes straight from real life, even though it has undoubtedly been sanitised for the big screen. In virtually every regard this is a ‘nice’ film and anyone who wants to see something light and cheerful will get some appreciation out of it. Overall, Marley & Me is a film that undeniably has charm but while it is certainly ‘nice’ and has a number of merits it just doesn’t feel like a wholly satisfying trip to the cinema. However, anyone looking for a basic feel-good flick or anyone who loves dogs will get more appreciation out of it and should add one star on to my rating.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)