Talkie Zoo: GRAN TORINO

Clint Eastwood is still as tough a figure as you'd want in Gran Torino (2008; R). From the gravelly voice to the weathered face to the tough-as-nails grit in his soul, Walt Kowalski is everything you'd expect an Eastwood character to be -- and more.

Having just lost his precious wife, and having been fairly distant from his children and grandchildren for years, Walt discovers that his Asian neighbors aren't the people he thought they'd be in his racially biased mind. He was a Korean War veteran who carried a burden of guilt for his own actions during wartime, and he was not willing to forgive himself. Through a series of incidents, including the teen Hmong boy attempting to steal his mint condition 1972 Ford Gran Torino car, he learns that he himself has more depth and courage than he could ever have imagined.

Walt is a fix-it man. He levels his neighbors washing machine so it doesn't rock when it's being used, and he repairs everything from the kitchen drain to the Danze faucets in both his own house and his neighbor's. The Hmong boy tries to make reparations for his misdeed by doing chores for Walt, and through this week of amends they become close.

Walt tries to be a fix-it man in the boy's and his sister's lives.

No spoiler from me. Watch this movie. It really is an amazing story, but know that the character Walt uses all kinds of foul language and racial slurs throughout the film.