Michael Russnow, writing for The Huffington Post, says it hasn’t been easy for Clint Eastwood to find roles that fit his no-nonsense personality, but in Gran Torino he inhabits just such a role, with “a lovely portrayal — not always easy to watch — of a man faced with a transition that comes just in time at the tail end of his life.”
Eastwood’s voice is not suddenly full of fire. It is equipped with an old man’s crackle and doesn’t often shift no matter the emotion of the moment. But in this story by Dave Johansson and Nick Schenk and with the spare and pointed dialogue in Nick Schenk’s screenplay, and with those ever haunting eyes that always made you believe Eastwood would kill you as Dirty Harry, it all comes together and works. Perhaps only for this film in this wonderful manner, but no matter because it’s a superb achievement…
John Wayne found True Grit towards the end of his career and now Clint Eastwood has done the same with an unforgettable performance in Gran Torino, a film that is so simple in its telling that it almost slips by how powerful it really is.
It’s hard to find a review that doesn’t say Gran Torino is one of the peaks of Eastwood’s acting career. I don’t buy into the idea that the Academy hands out Best Actor nominations as “farewell to acting” souvenirs — especially not to multiple Oscar winners who’ve already been nominated several times across three categories. (For that matter, I don’t know if I buy into this film being Eastwood’s “farewell to acting” at all. Fool me once, and all that.) But Gran Torino does seem to be one of those rare alignments of personality, persona and personification that comes along once in a lifetime for an actor — and when it caps off a lifetime like Clint Eastwood’s, can the result be anything but iconic?
24 Responses for "Is Gran Torino Eastwood’s True Grit?"
I saw the trailer twice and both times I thought he would definetely get nomination. His performance reminded me of old days, those tough guys in old movies. I wouldnt have any problem with Clint getting best actor nod. My only problem is who will get snabbed if Clint makes to the final five.
I have seen the Wrestler and Milk, both Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke are superb. I think we dont need to see Frost/Nixon to praise Frank Langella. Sacha already said that Leo Di Caprio is at his best in RR. Then one spot is left. i was really hoping for Brad Pitt but now i think old gun Clint may push Brad away.
So my top five (in alphabetical order):
Clint Eastwood
Leonardo DiCaprio
Frank Langella
Sean Penn
Mickey Rourke
Sertan, this is fine list, but you are completely overlooking the best male performance of the year in a leading role:
Richard Jenkins in THE VISITOR.
Clint already has 4 Oscars (5 if you count the Thalberg). I don’t know why they need to give him more, especially if it comes at the expense of a nomination for Richard Jenkins. Seems a damn shame!
I can see Clint getting nominated for “Gran Torino” (although I’m even on the fence about that), but I just don’t see him winning. Obviously I could change my mind once I see the movie. But John Wayne’s “True Grit” win was sort of a lifetime achievement award, back in the day when Academy voters were more inclined to mistake “best performance” with “who is the person we most want to reward while we still can.” When Lauren Bacall lost Best Supporting Actress in 1996, it seemed to usher in a new era of not rewarding someone strictly for sentimental reasons.
Plus, as some people have mentioned, Clint has four? Oscars already. Wayne had zero. I know that Eastwood has none for acting, but I’m just not sure the Academy is going to feel a pressing need to reward Clint for acting, even for an “iconic” role, when they seem to prefer him as a director. And personally, I think there might be a bit of Eastwood fatigue setting in.
In short: nomination, very possible. Win: No?
Sertan–Your list looks smart though I’m hoping Richard Jenkins pushes through instead of Clint. But The Visitor is such a quiet movie and may not be able to battle the Gran Torino hype. Plus the Academy loves Clint. But I’m keeping my fingers crossed he does not win the Oscar over the others nominated if he is indeed nominated.
It’s a good point that because Clint already has several Oscars he is not in the same position as John Wayne years ago. And because the acting branch is largest branch of the Academy they may go for one of the nominees who is only an actor.
Perhaps whoever wins will depend on a very good Oscar campaign.
“The Visitor is such a quiet movie…”
How about that “small, quiet indie” issue? Can we agree that’s what kept Once out of the major slots last year?
What are some of the smallest, quietest, indie-est movies that have ever been nominated in the the 4 top categories?
You want quiet indie, Wendy and Lucy makes The Visitor look like an action thriller.
But Michelle Williams delivers the only performance I’ve seen so far that choked me up. It’s like something De Sica would’ve filmed in the 1940’s, if he’d lived in Portland Oregon instead of post-war Rome.
Is there really much desire to reward Clint even more? i know he is consistently making very good films, and may have a few more nominations in him yet, but he has been heavily rewarded in the past and has always been a very limited actor.
I really don’t expect to see him up at the podium again; and, while I may be proved wrong, I don’t think he deserves a place in the acting nominations while there are consistently better performers lining up to get their own chance at glory.
“You want quiet indie, Wendy and Lucy makes The Visitor look like an action thriller.
But Michelle Williams delivers the only performance I’ve seen so far that choked me up. It’s like something De Sica would’ve filmed in the 1940’s, if he’d lived in Portland Oregon instead of post-war Rome.”
No argument from me about the above comments. Williams is very fine in Wendy and Lucy. But performances like Williams’s– so tough-minded and nuanced–are usually overlooked by the Academy and she has too much competition this year.
I can imagine voters putting their screeners into their DVD players and watching Wendy and Lucy for 15 minutes and then turning it off.
gran torino looks, from the trailer, like a mediocre uninteresting effort
i hope clint does not get nominated for this over dicaprio or jenkins
the visitor is one of favourite movies of the year
“Williams is very fine in Wendy and Lucy. But performances like Williams’s– so tough-minded and nuanced–are usually overlooked by the Academy and she has too much competition this year.
I can imagine voters putting their screeners into their DVD players and watching Wendy and Lucy for 15 minutes and then turning it off.”
No argument from me about your comments either, daveylow. But I might adjust the 15 minutes downward to 5. That opening, shot at a distance through trees and underbrush, with Wendy’s disassociated humming to herself on the soundtrack while she played a distracted game of casual fetch with Lucy — Not the typical hook most viewers need.
But for me it was the perfect overture to take me out of my own world and train my brain to slow down and watch in a different zone, so that those opening shots put me right inside Wendy’s experience. A very intense place to be for the the remainder of the movie — but I totally agree: with stacks of screeners to watch, how many AMPAS members will have the patience?
I’ll need to see the movie before I’ll judge on wether Eastwood will win but a nod seems a lock right now. And I for one am truly happy with that.
So is The Visitor getting re-released?
There’s a poster up at my local multiplex so I wondered.
That’s interesting, Chris. In what city is that? The Visitor DVD was out on Oct 7, so a re-release would be an unusual movie, but not unheard of, I guess.
Toronto actually.
And certainly not an unheard of move, isn’t that what The Dark Knight is planning too?
Although I’d like to see Gran Torino before predicting anything, an Eastwood nomination seems entirely plausible as a sorta True Grit thing.
I think one reason Bacall lost is because she hadn’t been part of Hollywood for decades and therefore sentiment was low — unless you count negative sentiment for Barbra Streisand.
Getting back to Clint, though, it may be pertinent to point out that no one has ever directed her/himself to an acting Oscar. If anyone could do it, though, Eastwood’s a good enough bet. He’d make it a horse race in any event.
If The Visitor positions itself well, Jenkins has a chance. Who knows? Maybe Langella or Pitt won’t make the cut. Stranger things have happened.
. . . and DeCaprio is anything but a done deal as far as I’m concerned.
“What are some of the smallest, quietest, indie-est movies that have ever been nominated in the the 4 top categories?”
You could say three of the actresses nominated for Best Actress last year, Ryan.
Then there’s Felicity Huffman for Transamerica and Ellen Burstyn for Requiem for a Dream; Ryan Gosling for Half Nelson and Peter O’Toole for Venus; and Secrets and Lies and Sideways. (Not that Brenda Blethyn’s and Paul Giamatti’s roles were exactly quiet…)
“Getting back to Clint, though, it may be pertinent to point out that no one has ever directed her/himself to an acting Oscar. If anyone could do it, though, Eastwood’s a good enough bet. He’d make it a horse race in any event.”
Pierre, I can think of at least one – Roberto Benigni.
Oh, why did you have to remind us of the Benigni nightmare?
LOL! – Sorry, Paul. I feel your pain.
Thanks, ladylurks. You’re always a reliable source of good info. I, on the other hand, can only beg for mercy because I was home sick with a cold and was too lazy to check my facts. Similar to Paul Outlaw, the Benigni reminder triggered a relapse. To think that Benigni not only won an Oscar but directed himself to it is a scourge on the Academy’s judgment and taste. (At the risk of sounding crass, I’ll call it Holocaust on the Brain.) But the Benigni case also underscores the possibility that Clint could direct himself to a Best Actor win.
After all, Sean Penn won his Mystic River Oscar despite his being a popular figure with the the Academy. And Rourke seems more of a Burt Reynolds-type nominee. I’m not necessarily saying that Clint will win if he’s nominated, but it ain’t that hard to envision such a scenario. I guess we’ll have to wait and see whether the film itself is any good.
Oops, I meant to say that Sean Penn won his Oscar even though he’s not that popular within the Academy (because of his offscreen life).
Long time reader, first time poster.
Just wanted to point out that Laurence Olivier also directed himself to a Best Actor win for Hamelt back in 1948 so Benigni is not the only precedent for Clint winning. (Although I think this is probably Penn’s year for Milk.)
I can’t wait to see Eastwood in this. Performance-wise, I just don’t see how he can dissapoint.
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