Critic Reviews
Gran Torino (2009) Rank 4 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (183) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
Poor
0
(0)
Reviews by Score:
Entertainment Spectrum (Keith Cohen)
Be sure to have tissues handy for an ending that is guaranteed to elicit sympathetic tears. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Entertainment Spectrum (Keith Cohen)
Tri-City Herald (Gary Wolcott)
At 78 you still believe Clint Eastwood is a seriously dangerous man. I wouldn't want to fight him. Some say this is his best-ever performance. That's hard to argue. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Tri-City Herald (Gary Wolcott)
Video-Reviewmaster.com (Steve Crum)
[As the] central character, senior citizen and anti-social Walt Kowalski, Eastwood gets to literally snarl dozens of times at life's tics and impositions... ...A beautifully realized film. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Video-Reviewmaster.com (Steve Crum)
crazedfanboy.com (Michael Smith)
Eastwood has said that, at age 78, this may be his last time in front of the camera. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at crazedfanboy.com (Michael Smith)
Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) (Greg Maki)
... Starts as one thing, then becomes something else entirely. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) (Greg Maki)
Orlando Weekly
Where Gran Torino fails at social criticism, it succeeds at capturing an engrossing snapshot of the human saga. If it's Clint's last film, it's a perfect ending. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Orlando Weekly
Daily Mail [UK] (Christopher Tookey)
This wise, likeable and extremely entertaining picture is a must-see. It is already the highest-grossing film in Eastwood's illustrious career. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Daily Mail [UK] (Christopher Tookey)
News of the World (Robbie Collin)
It’s a monumentally great film and keeps you spellbound till the lights come back up again. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at News of the World (Robbie Collin)
Teletext (Victor Olliver)
The Eastwood legend is set against false sentiment, pot-pourried politics. There's no Disney in this Walt. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Teletext (Victor Olliver)
At the Movies (Australia) (David Stratton)
Gran Torino may prove to be one be one of Eastwood's best. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at At the Movies (Australia) (David Stratton)
Gazette (MD) (Jeffrey Lyles)
they don't make movies like this anymore ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Gazette (MD) (Jeffrey Lyles)
Fresno Bee (Donald Munro)
Swirls with a textured and tangled complexity that results in a series of intimate, emotional and jaw-dropping moments in cinema. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Fresno Bee (Donald Munro)
Spirituality & Practice
The pleasure in watching this miracle take place is what makes Gran Torino one of the best films of the year! ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Spirituality & Practice
Combustible Celluloid
It makes me sad to think that this is the last we'll see of the great star/filmmaker onscreen, but this final achievement makes me want to applaud. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Combustible Celluloid
Shadows on the Wall
As all of these textures and colours swirl around the driving force of Walt's will, the film really gets under our skin. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Shadows on the Wall
Entertainment Weekly
Gran Torino, though, grafts those signature late-career preoccupations onto a story that's got the energy of a gangly youth, right down to the naturalistic performances by the mostly nonprofessional Hmong cast. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Entertainment Weekly
Paste Magazine
Since 2003 Director Clint Eastwood has had a late-career renaissance comparable perhaps only to Phillip Roth's in literature. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Paste Magazine
Cinema Blend
Gran Torino is a movie you must see. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Cinema Blend
Antagony & Ecstasy (Tim Brayton)
Look, not everyone is going to like Gran Torino. It's undeniably hokey. But all pulp fiction is ultimately a little hokey, and that's usually why the makers of such movies compensate by bringing their A-game behind the camera. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Antagony & Ecstasy (Tim Brayton)
Susan Granger
Who would have thought that Dirty Harry would become not only one of Hollywood's most respected filmmakers but also one of its most compassionate humanists? ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Susan Granger
Richard Roeper.com (Richard Roeper)
A brilliant commentary on a lot of earlier Clint Eastwood roles. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Richard Roeper.com (Richard Roeper)
jackiekcooper.com (Jackie K. Cooper)
It's pure Eastwood and that means it is grand entertainment ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at jackiekcooper.com (Jackie K. Cooper)
Bangor Daily News (Maine) (Christopher Smith)
For Eastwood, the movie is a slight, easy breeze to the end. But he's terrific in the role, the supporting cast is just as good, and as a result, the movie is well worth seeing. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Bangor Daily News (Maine) (Christopher Smith)
Rotton Tomatoes
Who would have thought that Dirty Harry would become not only one of Hollywood's most respected filmmakers but also one of its most compassionate humanists? At 78, Eastwood still commands the screen. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Rotton Tomatoes
The Arizona Republic
Gran Torino is an unlikely tale made plausible almost solely by the quality of Clint Eastwood's performance. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at The Arizona Republic
Rolling Stone
The no-frills, no-bull Gran Torino made my day. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Rolling Stone
Cinema Crazed (Felix Vasquez Jr.)
Eastwood gives us a morbid take on righting wrongs in a world that lends no help to the victimized... ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Cinema Crazed (Felix Vasquez Jr.)
The Toronto Star
The toughest hombre at the bijou this holiday season makes gun gestures with his hands and has a steed that barely moves. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at The Toronto Star
Watertown Daily Times (Adam Tobias)
If Gran Torino is in fact the fat lady singing on Eastwood's acting career, I couldn't think of a more fitting way to say goodbye to one of Hollywood's most iconic and revered stars. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Watertown Daily Times (Adam Tobias)
Illinois Times (Charles Koplinski)
Torino proves a grand exit for Eastwood. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Illinois Times (Charles Koplinski)
Atlantic City Weekly (Lori Hoffman)
[Eastwood] seems to have inherited a quality most often seen in great European filmmakers %u2014 the ability to both age gracefully, and channel his life experience into his work. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Atlantic City Weekly (Lori Hoffman)
What Would Toto Watch?
Clint Eastwood's character in Gran Torino represents the culimination of the icon's screen career. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at What Would Toto Watch?
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Eastwood can be ham-handed ... but he never allows moral instruction to dilute the entertainment value of his films. He loads his movies with ideas ... but is never ostentatious with his intelligence and deep themes. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Eastwood's recent films have been a pleasure and a surprise, but "Gran Torino" in particular exudes a sense of renewal and promise. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Apollo Guide
An ideal platform for writer/ director Clint Eastwood to show the world that, at 78 years of age, he's at the top of his game. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Apollo Guide
New York Post
IMAGINE an aged Dirty Harry squinting, waving his .44 Magnum at a bunch of kids and yelling "Get off my lawn!" That's a pretty good idea of Clint Eastwood's hugely entertaining indie-style dramedy "Gran Torino. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at New York Post
Go Memphis (John Beifuss)
Its bluntness and sincerity -- and the undistracted momentum of its storytelling -- are like splashes of cold water in a face gone slack from a surfeit of irony and sophistication. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Go Memphis (John Beifuss)
Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Daniel M. Kimmel)
It's interesting to note that [Eastwood's] still going strong at 78. What's even more interesting is that the last two decades includes some of the finest work of his career. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Daniel M. Kimmel)
Kansas City Star
Maybe it's his no-nonsense style -- unaffected acting, matter-of-fact cinematography, the deft juggling of emotional opposites -- but Gran Torino seems to unfold effortlessly in the hands of a master. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Kansas City Star
Houston Community Newspapers (Gary Brown)
If Gran Torino is Clint Eastwood's last acting gig, he's gone out in top form. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Houston Community Newspapers (Gary Brown)
Christianity Today
The first time I saw the trailer for this film in a theater, the audience laughed. It portrayed a senile, furrow-browed Clint Eastwood brandishing a gun and barking at Asian people to "get off my lawn. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Christianity Today
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
I would like to grow up to be like Clint Eastwood. Eastwood the director, Eastwood the actor, Eastwood the invincible, Eastwood the old man. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Minneapolis Star Tribune (Colin Covert)
Eastwood's second film this year is a compelling study of anger and violence and the guilt and shame that shadow them. He has sat high in the saddle for decades, but rarely has he ridden so tall as in the driver's seat of Gran Torino. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Minneapolis Star Tribune (Colin Covert)
Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA) (John Wirt)
Another compelling story from an American master. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA) (John Wirt)
Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
[Eastwood] has framed his career in a new way. The youthful embrace of violence as entertainment has given way to a mature rue at the waste, pain and loss that even make-believe death entails. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
The Aisle Seat
Gran Torino gets laughs when it wants to be funny, earns your empathy when it wants to be affecting, and makes you think when it speaks its mind. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at The Aisle Seat
jackiekcooper.com (Jackie K. Cooper)
It's pure Eastwood and that means it is grand entertainment. ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at jackiekcooper.com (Jackie K. Cooper)
Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
Eastwood's dead-pan delivery is so familiar that it has its own built-in humor and draw, but it's all just set-up, which is precisely what makes the film such an intriguing trick ...read the complete Gran Torino movie review at Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
from $7.49
(11 sellers)
User Reviews
User Review Summary
based on (2) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
Excellent
4
(0)
Good
2
(0)
Fair
1
(0)
Poor
0
(0)
by ryan on January 21, 2009 Ogden, Utah
I went and saw this movie with a friend this weekend I couldn't ask for more it was very entertaining Clint Eastwood was a great actor in the movie. The only negative parts in this movie is the racism just about every word that comes out of Clint ...
User Comments
del.icio.us
Digg
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! My Web
Facebook
Google Bookmarks
ma.gnolia
Newsvine
reddit
Windows Live
