For the most part, Gran Tornio is a solid film - intriguing and dramatic, it would have served as an appropriate swan song for the man who directed it, Clint Eastwood. But to say that it's deserving of a place in the Top 250 is to say that all logic has gone straight out of the window. A movie in the Top 250 should, fundamentally, be firing on all cylinders, and Gran Torino clearly isn't. It's just way too safe, predictable, and overtly melodramatic. And then there's the acting, of course. You can sort of forgive Eastwood himself for a few soggy line readings (let's face it: he's always been more of an icon than an actor), but can we really look past the fact that almost everybody else in this movie is downright awful? Seriously, the supporting players in Gran Torino feel like they've been plucked out from their first week at drama school. And said drama school is on the verge of shutting down.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
