10 Great Movies (That Were Led By Terrible Performances)

3. Gran Torino (2008)

Let us start by saying Clint Eastwood is a legend. Simply put, he's one of the most influential and famous faces in Hollywood. His career spans over fifty years and he has acting and directing credits like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Million Dollar Baby and Unforgiven to his name. His performance as cantankerous army veteran, Walt Kowalski, is hilariously mean-spirited and racist; funny in the way old people are funny when they throw political correctness out the window. Clint is his usual reliable self, turning up the manliness and injecting his gruff, no-nonsense persona into the character. The supporting cast are not so ideal. The Hmong actors, particularly Sue and Thao, are terrible. There is no getting away from the fact they're propped up by Eastwood's performance and the direction he takes the film. The story may be one about change and equality... and the ending may be one of the most heartbreaking things we've seen, but we had to sit through nearly two hours of bad acting to get there. Without Eastwood, this film would have been insufferable. His keen directorial vision guides Gran Torino to the status of a wonderful modern masterclass in filmmaking, papering over the faltering work of the rookie support.