Ann Althouse posts 10 “random thoughts” on Clint Eastwood’s new film, Gran Torino, including number 5: “This is a good movie for people who like cars and guns and tools. There’s also a lot of drinking and, as I said, smoking. And a military medal, a lawnmower, and a dog. All the manly things. With lots of manliness on top.” The comments that follow her post are also worth reading (after you see the film) including this positive one (also flagged by Glenn): “It says something about America that the toughest guy in the movies is 78 years old.” Then there are these two more negative comments:
I kind of despise Clint Eastwood ever since . . . [Unforgiven.] That movie took the glamour of violence to a new level of hypocrisy. It was all about how awful violence is — lots and lots of violence for you to deplore, and the hero who hated it but was really good at it, talk about Hollywood having their cake and eating it too. It started Eastwood on a streak of fashionably “dark” movies — Mystic River, which I also hated, because it was all about pampered Hollywood guys’ fascination with tragedy and depravity — very gratuitous and voyeuristic. And then Million Dollar Baby, in which of course the heroine has to get paralyzed and commit assisted suicide.
And this one:
I won’t quibble with Clint’s performance but, really, just about every other actor’s performance is barely after-school-special quality. . . . The performances are so wooden that they can’t help but jar you from the movie’s reality. It’s an ok movie but way over-hyped.
A little overstated, perhaps, but I tend to agree. So here’s my take on Gran Torino:
What Ann–and lots of others including me–really like about Gran Torino is watching Eastwood’s character, Walt Kowalski. And Kowalski is none other than Harry Callahan–AKA Dirty Harry–in retirement. 
Then as now Callahan/Kowalski was surrounded by wooden stereotyped characters. If this is Eastwood’s last film as an actor, as reputed, he decided to end his acting career by reprising his most famous character, and the one with whom he will forever be identified.
And, in Gran Torino he treats the character with complete respect–without a hint of self-parody–thereby respecting and satisfying those who always liked the character. Anyone who enjoyed this character then, like Ann (“a guilty pleasure for us peace-and-love hippies”), will enjoy him now all the more. The big difference is the critical hype that Eastwood gets today, that he never got back then, thus permitting those who despised Harry to buy Walt. OK, I admit that Eastwood has grown over the years as an actor though, like John Wayne, he was always far better than the critics would admit.
By the way, when I met Eastwood I asked him if he considered himself a libertarian. He said yes, though he did vote Republican, adding, “but Republicans are supposed to be libertarians, aren’t they?” And he looked a lot younger and better in person than he looks on the screen (or even on TV at the Academy Awards).
Update: Ann graphically imagines my encounter with Eastwood here and she substantiates that Dirty Harry was despised as fascist by quoting a well-worth-reading Salon article on Eastwood’s film career by Christopher Orr, Dirty Harry or p.c. wimp?.
Steve Mason at Big Hollywood describes Gran Torino’s box office and Eastwood’s Oscar chances here.
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