Clint Eastwood directs himself and shines as a crusty retired FoMoCo auto assembly line worker and Korean war vet determined to hold onto life, as he has known it, in his changing neighborhood on Detroit’s east side.  The once proud area of working class homes is rundown and populated with a mix of Asian, Latino, and a few old timer Polish Americans, like Walt Kowalski.  Walt’s tidy house stands out among the weedy yards and frame homes badly in need of repair, the turf littered with empty lots and cars  filled with budding gang bangers.
  Recently widowed, Walt finds redemption through Thao, the shy teenage Hmong boy next door who finds himself annoyingly in Walt’s debt after an ugly incident involving the attempted grand theft auto of Walt’s mint condition Gran Torino.  All but estranged from his two grown sons and assorted relatives since the death of their mother, Walt’s memories of combat in Korean in 1951 ferment destructively in his relationships with newer neighbors. 

A stone’s throw away from the posh lake shore mansions built by the city’s auto industry magnates, the dream cruise that closes the film and has Walt’s cherry 1972 Gran Torino sailing along the Lake St. Clair shoreline seems a bit of a Hollywood ending, but then directing himself in the role of Walt Kowalski owes more than a passing nod to Hollywood blockbuster Dirty Harry. 

After several decades both Eastwood and his Harry-type anti-hero Walt have learned a few things about life.  When Walt becomes responsible for escalating neighborhood violence against Thao and his family, he takes matters into his own hands.  Walt Kowalski’s triumphant last stand against those who would be kings, the no-good kind, leave the place he called home a better, if sadder place.  First-rate and natural performances from all are fixed to a fine screenplay by Nick Schenk.