“Get off my lawn!”

Okay, it doesn’t have the same pop cultural crunch as “Make my day!” (from 1983’s SUDDEN IMPACT) or “Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?” (from 1971’s DIRTY HARRY).

But when Clint Eastwood as widowed Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski snarls the line in the new DVD release GRAN TORINO (116 mins. 14A) it is enough to make a bunch of young punks in his down-at-the-heels Detroit neighbourhood think twice about challenging the feisty senior glaring at them from the business end of a rifle.

Maybe it’s the crazy gleam in his eye or maybe he reminds them of a cop they saw in an old movie. Whatever. Suddenly they don’t feel lucky.

No doubt about it. Things are getting downright dangerous in the 'burbs these days and with Walt’s wife gone (the movie opens with her funeral) his son Mitch (Brian Haley) has been trying to talk Dad into selling the house and moving into a retirement facility.

The old man refuses to budge. He doesn’t have much respect for Mitch’s opinion anyhow.

“I work in the Ford factory for 50 years and he’s out selling Japanese cars,” Walt grumbles.

It doesn’t help that Mitch’s teenage daughter Ashley (Dreama Walker) has gracelessly asked Grandpa if she can have his 1972 Gran Torino when he dies.

Walt doesn’t even dignify her request with a reply. That car symbolizes an era when he felt sure of his place in the world — back when Detroit ruled the auto industry and before a flood of immigrants changed the complexion of his old neighbourhood irrevocably.

What Walt doesn’t realize is that most of his neighbours are from a tribe of southeast Asian hill people known as the Hmong who fought with the Americans during the Vietnam War and were forced to flee for their lives when U.S. troops returned home and the Vietcong began hunting them down with a vengeance.

Spunky teenager Sue Lor (Ahney Her) and her shy younger brother Thao (Bee Vang) live with their widowed mother and grandmother next door to Walt. When the old man chases those young thugs off his lawn he unwittingly saves Thao from being forcibly inducted into the ranks of a local gang and becomes a hero to his Hmong neighbours who shower him with gifts and food.

So begins an unlikely friendship between two very different cultures because up until now Walt has been an unapologetic racist. However even a cranky old bigot is not immune to the warmth and friendship of the Hmong people (and their savoury cuisine.)

Eastwood (who also directed) knows that the roots of racial prejudice lie in a deep mistrust of people who are different.

And yet, the movie seems to say, if we take time to get to know our multicultural fellow citizens we will discover that beneath the skin we are all part of the family of man.

Joy, fear, friendship and loyalty are universal no matter what language we speak or where we come from.

Although Walt may scratch his head at some of the Hmong customs he finds to his bemusement that — in his words — “I have more in common with these (Asian immigrants) than I do with my spoiled rotten family.”

Of course, Walt doesn`t use the term “Asian immigrants.“

Even after he befriends the Hmong he still uses racial epithets in casual conversation. That is the way he has always talked and Eastwood is wise enough to know that the habits of a lifetime do not change overnight. He is not about to sacrifice the authenticity of his performance on the altar of political correctness.

The change in Walt is all on the inside and thanks to Eastwood's careful, measured portrayal it happens gradually and believably. To his sons and their families he is still the same cantankerous old coot.

Thao and Sue know better. In this movie, as in most of Eastwood’s films, actions speak louder than words (and no one is better at expressing intense emotions while keeping his teeth firmly clenched.)

While the movie is full of dramatic moments Nick Schenk’s original screenplay is not without a certain sly humour as in the scene in which Walt takes a fatherly interest in Thao and shows him the tools in his garage.

“WD-40, vise grips and some duct tape. Any man worth his salt can do half of the household chores with just those three things,” he tells the youngster. “Anything else you need, you just borrow it, that’s all.”

In some ways GRAN TORINO reminds me of director Don Siegel’s sombre 1976 western THE SHOOTIST. John Wayne plays an aging gunfighter dying of cancer who straps on his shooting irons for one last showdown.

This was the Duke's final film and he knew it. Many critics have interpreted the movie as an elegy to Wayne himself and all of the western heroes he brought to life on the screen back in the day.

GRAN TORINO’s $148 million U.S. box office booty makes it the highest grossing movie of Eastwood's acting/directing career. And yet the 79-year-old film legend has said this will be his last film as an actor.

The final act plays like a requiem for all the whispery tough guys he has portrayed over the years.

Siegel also directed DIRTY HARRY and Eastwood has cited the late lensman as an influence on his own filmmaking style so if ol' Granite Lips sticks to his guns and this is indeed his last turn in front of the camera he is going out in a blaze of glory.

VIDBITS

... The filmmaker plans to spend the rest of his career behind the scenes writing and directing.

... Eastwood insisted that Hmong actors play Hmong characters even though it meant choosing from a limited talent pool. Although Bee Vang and Ahney Her have never acted in a film before their inexperience actually works for them here. After all, like the actors themselves, their characters are struggling to adapt to new challenges and unfamiliar surroundings.

.... Eastwood made five films as loose cannon cop “Dirty Harry“Callahan between 1971 and 1988. All five have recently been re-released (with new featurettes and remixed audio) as part of THE DIRTY HARRY COLLECTION.

The “Deluxe Edition“ of the 1971 original includes a commentary by noted TIME Magazine critic Richard Schickel, some fascinating cast and crew interviews (must viewing for fans) and movie trailers (and all for under ten dollars!)