March 15, 2009
This Saturday I and a number of other guys from my church went to see the movie Gran Torino. This is my attempt to praise it without ruining it for you. It is full of bad language—realistic, vulgar, profane language. The language is highly charged racially—it was like Dirty Harry had been mixed with Archie Bunker. That said, the movie and its message are almost the opposite of the language. I was blown away by the movie. It demonstrated more about love, self-sacrifice, dignity, respect and culture than any movie I had seen in a while. It also revealed Eastwood as a master of the craft. The end of this movie completes, revises, alters and perfects Eastwood’s career. It brings peace and finality to the form of films for which he has become a legend. He finally completes and brings peace to the form by transforming Pale Rider and Outlaw Josie Wales (movies that I loved but which deserve far less praise than this film) into something strikingly Christian. Does anyone know if he has recently become a believer?
I and the other men left the theater misty eyed (I saw you guys). You will too. It is not a film for young children, but young children will be blessed if their parents watch this film and take its message seriously. (It also has the most positive portrayal of a clergyman that I have seen in recent memory.)
