"Gran Torino" opens in Marshall

Clint Eastwood's latest masterpiece "Gran Torino" opens in Marshall today. Although, this fine film received some accolades during the early days of the 2008 awards season, including a Best Actor award for Eastwood and Best Original Screenplay award for Nick Schenk from the National Board of Review; it was largely ignored by the most recent awards ceremonies, not receiving even one Academy Award nomination. Ironically, it has been a hit at the box office over the recent weeks, becoming one of Eastwood's biggest moneymakers with a total U.S. boxoffice to date of over $110 million.

The movie is both funny and dramatic, telling the story of an old curmudgeon (Eastwood) who befriends his Chinese neighbors, despite his own racism, when the young man next door tries to steal his prize possession, a '72 Gran Torino. Eastwood is riding a wave of some of the best films of his career, starting with 2003's "Mystic River", his Oscar-winning "Million Dollar Baby", the World War II duo of "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters from Iwo Jima", and now his latest winner. "Gran Torino" is a film that shouldn't be missed.

Read my original four-star review here.