Gran Torino Gran Torino is an American
drama film released in the year 2008. The plot of the film follows an old man named Walt Kowalski
who is a retired automobile worker and a former war vet. After his wife’s death,
Walt becomes isolated and emotionally detached from his family due to his dogmatic nature.
Despite his dislike for his next-door Asian neighbors,
Walt develops an unlikely relationship with a teenage boy of the family named Thao Vang Lor.
The film starts with a retired auto worker and Korean War vet Walt Kowalski taking condolences
from his pals for his dead wife, Dorothy at her funeral. Walt is upset to see his granddaughter,
Ashley’s not-so-modest dressing, and glares at her as he is an irritable and opinionated old
man. Walt’s middle-aged sons discuss that it is inevitable to impress their father as he always
seems disappointed. It turns out that Walt does not have a good relationship with his
family and will be all alone now that his wife has died with whom he was married for 50 years.
After the funeral, many guests show up at Walt’s house.
Walt is disappointed to see his grandchildren’s insensitive and rude behavior so he walks out
of the house, taking his elderly Labrador, Daisy for a walk. Walt lives in Highland Park
which was previously populated by working-class white families. However, now the neighborhood is
inhabited by gangsters and poor southeast Asian immigrants, including Walt's next-door neighbors,
the Vang Lor family. Outside his house, Walt is pissed to see his neighbors and walks inside his
garage only to find Ashely smoking a cigarette. Ashley is startled to see him and diverts his
attention by questioning him about the vintage car that he owns. She brings up the idea of
whom the car will be passed on once Walt dies, making Walt even more enraged. The boy from the
next-door neighbor's family arrives at the house asking Walt for jumper cables but Walt shuts
the door on him. His late wife's priest, Father Janovich tries to console Walt and mentions that
Dorothy wanted him to go into confession someday. However, Walt rejects the idea, implying that the
father is merely a young and inexperienced boy. After the service, everyone along with Walt’s
son leaves, and Walt is disappointed to see them driving a Japanese car not belonging
to the Ford company as he formerly worked there. Meanwhile, the Vang Lor family next
door celebrates the birth of a newborn baby, and Walt is displeased to see them. Later,
Father Janovich again appears to meet Walt and Walt dismisses him yet again. The scene cuts
to a boy from the next door named Thao Vang Lor who is being bullied by some thugs on the street.
However, a gang run by Thao’s cousin, Spider, arrives in time and saves him from the bullies.
They offer Thao to get in the car but Thao rejects their advances and keeps walking idly.
Soon, Spider along with his gang arrives at Thao’s house and force him to join the gang.
Having no other choice, Thao agrees. The gang members ask Thao to steal his neighbor Walt’s
1972 Gran Torino which has a cobra jet engine from his garage. The gang then goes to see Walt’s
treasured car and obsess over it. At night, while Walt spends time with his friends in a bar, Father
Janovich appears again as he had promised Dorothy to look after Walt keenly. He again insists Walt
on going into a confession. Walt berates Janovich for not knowing what life and death actually mean.
Later at night, Walt spots Thao attempting to steal his treasured Gran Torino.
In his fury, Walt grabs his rifle, loads it, and heads to his garage. He catches Thao red-handed
but before he is about to grab him, Thao flees. Despite his failed attempt, the gang offers Thao
to get in the car so they can run away but Thao ignores them. The next morning, Walt receives a
call from his elder selfish son, Mitch asking him for a favor but Walt hangs up on him. At night,
Spider along with his gang arrives at Thao’s house when Thao and his sister, Sue are spending time.
Spider forces Thao to come with him and once again attempt to steal Walt’s car. However,
Thao’s family resist and in the process of stopping Spider from taking Thao, it creates
a spectacle outside the house. Thankfully, Walt comes out of his house in time and uses his rifle
to drive away Spider and his gang, earning the Vang Lor family’s respect. The next morning the
Vang Lor family fills Walt’s porch with food and flowers to express their gratitude towards him.
Walt is offended by everything and throws it in the garbage. He then asks his neighbors to
stop bringing gifts but they consider Walt a hero for saving Thao, who apologizes to Walt
for his actions. But WAlt refuses to accept his apology and warns him to stay off of his property.
In the afternoon, Father Janovich arrives to meet Walt after finding out that there was trouble
in the neighborhood earlier. He asks Walt why he didn’t call the cops to which Walt replies that he
has learned during the war to react to situations immediately instead of waiting for help from
others. Janovich explains to Walt that he is no longer in Korea and that he must unburden himself
from the trauma of war to reach salvation. For the first time, Walt appreciates Janovich’s thoughts.
Later, while Sue is out on the street with her friend Trey, three gangsters try to harass her.
Walt happens to be passing by in his truck and helps Sue from the thugs by flaunting
his gun at them. On his way back home with Sue, Walt suggests Sue stop hanging
out with her cowardly friend Trey and make friends from her Asian community.
The two of them bond well when Sue tells him that her family migrated to the Midwest
due to the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Later, when Walt is sitting on his porch,
he notices Thao’s kind gesture of helping an old woman with picking up her groceries.
On Walt’s birthday, Mitch along with his wife Karen stops by Walt’s house with a
birthday gift and persuades Walt to shift to a community center to escape his isolation.
Walt boils with anger and kicks them out of his house. Mitch and Karen regret coming to Walt and
leave the house angrily. Later, Walt goes back to the porch and enjoys beer alone with Daisy.
Sue sees him alone and invites him to a barbeque at her house. At first, Walt hesitates to go but
then realizes that it is better to have a beer with strangers than drink alone.
At the Vang Lor’s house, Walt doesn’t quite receive a warm welcome from the guests
and especially Sue’s grandmother as she loathes Walt due to his judgmental nature.
Sue takes Walt to the food table and Walt is delighted to see the delicious food.
However, he feels weird when a man who is the Lor family shaman keeps staring at him continuously.
A moment later, the shaman approaches Walt and tells him that no one likes him due to
his opinionated nature. He also reveals that Walt has made a mistake in his past life with which he
is unsatisfied which is why he is not at peace. Suddenly, Walt feels overwhelmed and experiences
a coughing fit with blood. However, he tries to hide it from Sue and rushes to the washroom.
When Sue questions him about the blood, Walt lies to her and the two go back to the party where
Walt enjoys himself. Sue then takes him to the basement where he mingles with a girl named Youa.
He then meets Thao who is sitting alone secluded and makes him realize that Youa likes him.
Walt gives him dating advice and tells him to not let some random dudes hit on Youa.
Then onward, the Hmong people keep showering Walt with flowers and chicken dumplings that he likes.
One day, Thao’s mother Vu realizes that Thao should work for Walt as punishment for trying to
steal his car. Walt refuses to have Thao on his property but upon Sue’s insistence, he relents.
The next day onward, Thao comes to work for Walt but instead of making Thao work for himself,
Walt asks him to work for the neighborhood and fix disoriented things. When it is Thao’s last day
at work, Walt once again experiences a coughing fit with blood and decides to give Thao an off.
He then goes to consult his doctor but is sad to discover that his regular doctor has retired
three years ago. After getting all his tests done, Walt calls his son Mitch to inform him
about his disappointing medical results. But before he could tell him, Mitch mentions that
he is busy at the moment. Walt decides not to bother him and keeps the truth from his family.
The next day, Walt sees Spider’s gang passing by the street in their car. Walt happens to
be standing on his porch smoking. He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls his hand out suddenly
as if he were drawing a gun to scare off the thugs. Later, Thao arrives back at Walt’s house
to work so he takes him into his garage where Thao is surprised to see hundreds of tools.
When Thao mentions that he can never collect so many tools, Walt gives him three basic tools
that can help every man fix anything. Suddenly, Walt again coughs up blood making Thao worried.
However, Walt distracts Thao from this topic and asks him the motive of Spider’s gang.
When Thao tells him that they want his Gran Torino, Walt is surprised and laughs it out.
Soon, Thao and Walt develop mutual respect. Although Walt keeps embarrassing Thao for
being a coward, Thao does not resent it. Later, Sue stops by Walt’s house and appreciates him
for being a good man and a role model to Thao. One day, while Walt mentors Thao in gardening,
Thao asks him to quit smoking as it is injurious to his health.
Walt diverts the topic to Thao instead and tells him that he should go to school to study. When
Thao mentions that he does not have the resources to study, Walt suggests he get a job. He also
gives Thao some advice on socializing and asks him to go on a date so he can man up a little.
Later, Walt takes Thao to his friend, Martin’s barber shop and asks him to man up Thao.
Thao is asked to enter the shop acting like a real man after Martin and Walt give him some advice.
Walt then takes Thao to his friend Tim’s construction site and helps him get a
construction job. Thao acts all manned up in front of Tim and impresses him enough to land a job.
On their way back home, Walt stops by a shop and fetches construction essentials for Thao.
Later, Spider's gang continues to pressure Thao and attacks him on his way home from work.
When Walt sees Thao’s bruised face, he asks him for Spider’s address but Thao refuses his help.
However, Walt tracks down Spider’s house and brutally beats one of his gang members
as a warning. Later, while having a barbeque party with the Vang Lor family,
Walt is happy to know that Thao has asked out Youa on a date. Out of generosity, he offers
to give Thao his Gran Torino for the date night. Later, at night Spider’s gang opens fire at the
Vang Lor family’s house, injuring Thao. Walt races there to check if everyone is alright.
Thankfully, no one was hurt but Sue happens to be missing. Finally, Sue arrives home
and everyone is shocked to see her bruised. Walt is devastated and furious. He returns
home and can’t stop beating around to vent out his anger. That night Father Janovich arrives to meet
Walt and supports his idea to seek vengeance on the assaulters, as Sue and her family refused to
report the crimes. The next day, Thao arrives at Walt’s house and asks him for help to take
revenge on the gang. Seeing his rage, Walt asks him to calm down and return later that day.
Walt then spends the day by himself. He mows the lawn, gets a fresh haircut and a shave,
buys a new suit tailored to his body size, and then goes to Father Janovich to make a confession.
Later that day, Thao returns to Walt as asked. Walt takes him to his basement and gives him
his Silver Star that he received after the Korean War. Thao questions him about how many men he has
killed in Korea. Walt reveals that he killed 13 or more men. He then locks Thao in the basement
and when Thao insists on letting him out, Walt tells him that he is still haunted by the memory
of killing enemy soldiers and does not want Thao to feel awful after committing a murder.
Before heading to the gang’s residence, Walt hands over Daisy to Thao’s grandmother and
informs Sue about his house keys to free Thao later. Meanwhile, Father Janovich waits outside
Spider’s house with cops to avoid bloodshed. But since there has been peace since morning,
the cops leave, taking Janovich along. Meanwhile, Walt arrives at the gang’s residence.
The gang members point their guns at Walt, drawing the attention of the neighbors.
Walt berates Spider for assaulting his own cousin and then puts a cigarette in his mouth. He then
reaches into his jacket pocket and suddenly pulls his hand out, as if he were drawing a gun. The
gang members get alert and pierce Walt’s body with multiple bullets, shooting him to death.
Walt's hand opens to reveal his lighter. It turns out that he was unarmed and
sacrificed himself for Sue and Thao. He knew he couldn't kill all of the gang members.
So, instead he sacrificed his own life to get them jailed for his murder. Soon, Sue and Thao arrive
at the scene in Walt's Gran Torino and are shocked to see Walt’s body getting carried on a stretcher.
A police officer informs them that Walt was killed despite being unarmed and that the
gang members are being arrested for murder as the neighbors have witnessed the murder.
Later, Father Janovich holds Walt’s funeral at the church which is attended by his sons and members
of the Hmong community. After the funeral, Walt’s family eagerly listens to Walt's will,
in hopes of inheriting Walt’s possessions. But to their surprise,
Walt leaves his house to the church and his Gran Torino to Thao as long as he does not paint any
idiotic flames on it. The film ends with Thao driving the Gran Torino along with Daisy.
This movie has a rating of 8.1 on IMDb. The budget of this movie was around $33 million and at the
box office, it earned $270 million. I hope you all liked this video. If yes, then make sure to like,
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