Gran Torino

Clint Eastwood has been spending more time behind the camera than in front of it in recent years. But he takes on the double role of director and star in this drama about a retired Detroit auto worker with a sour disposition and a reflexive bigotry. Walt Kowalski is a lonely curmudgeon of a widower, disconnected from his children and surrounded by immigrants in his once blue-collar neighborhood. He rattles around with a perpetual sour grimace, his lip curled like he's anticipating a fight and his voice an unwelcoming growl, hoarse and brittle, as he tells the gangbangers to, "Get off my lawn," and backs it up with a loaded rifle. And then he befriends the Hmong family next door and becomes a father figure to their son (newcomer Bee Vang). Or rather a crotchety old grandfather with a warm affection under his flinty exterior. It's a simple story directed with the virtues of an Eastwood character piece. No one expresses their feelings in any verbal way, only through their actions, and a smile on Clint's face speaks volumes.

Features two short (and, frankly, superfluous) featurettes on car culture, and a bonus digital copy of the film for portable media players. Exclusive to the Blu-ray edition is the more substantial 20-minute featurette "The Eastwood Way," which provides a conventional overview of the making of the film and puts a spotlight on the real-life Hmong community that came together on the production.