I sat down to Gran Torino not knowing anything about the film other than Tim had heard good things about it.

Gran Torino is named after the 1972 car that Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) preens and polishes that is to be the instrument that shoves Thao (Bee Vang), the Hmong boy from next door, into his life. The story begins with the funeral of Walt's wife and quickly introduces him as a wonderfully racist Koran War veteran who's rundown neighbourhood has slowly been invaded by Asian immigrants. Walt generally grunts at his Hmong next door neighbours, and the crankiness only escalates after Thao makes a terrible attempt at stealing the Torino. Sue (Ahney Her), Thao's feisty, smart-talking sister does a great job of warming Walt back to humanity - with a beer and yummy Hmong food.

Grumpy old Walt seems to embody many of the characters Eastwood has played, with Dirty Harry Callahan coming to mind when he scowls the lines: "Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while that you shouldn't have messed with? That's me." when Sue is hassled by hood rats; and "Get. Off. My. Lawn." when an Asian gang sullies his front yard.

Vintage Eastwood has never been better. The story is well-paced and Eastwood is absolutely captivating as Walt.The film has added many racial slurs to my vocabulary, meanings of some I haven't yet figured out (like zipperhead), but at no point does it come across as offensive. Amusing, but definitely not offensive.

I found the ending wonderfully poetic of a life well lived.

Gran Torino gets five stars and a thumbs up from me. It's one of the best films I've seen in a long time.

Academy award? I'd like to hope so.