I feel like I’ve seen a lot of stories about neighborhoods that go bad, gangs harassing local kids, people fighting back, etc. It goes back to Boyz In The Hood which kind of kicked off a lot of “in the hood” type movies. Gran Torino is different with it’s focus on the Hmong people and the conflict of old and new in Detroit. But at it’s heart there are connections of the “in the hood” genre of movies. So there is just a little thread of cliche running through the story. However, Clint Eastwood is a good storyteller and this movie keeps things interesting without sinking too much into one-dimensional characters. And the ending goes in a different route than what one might expect, with very satisfying results. It’s a good movie with good characters you can get behind. And props to Eastwood for directing another interesting film. Definitely worth checking out.
