Clint Eastwood and Gran Torino: Does He Still Feel Lucky?

By Clarence Yu WHEN Clint Eastwood uttered the now famous lines, âDo you feel lucky? Well, do you, punk?â in the polarizing landmark 1971 cop drama Dirty Harry, he might as well have been talking to himself, minus punk, as he enters another interesting phase of his storied career. Gran Torino, which opens this December in limited release and wider in January, has been receiving mostly positive reviews as it makes its premiere rounds with the usual critics. The particular emphasis now i s on Eastwood the actor, in his first starring role since 2004âs Million Dollar Baby and also rumored to be his last thespian effort. Eastwoodâs acclaim owes much to his directorial efforts: Unforgiven (1992) and Million Dollar Baby (2004) won him two Oscar awards for Best Director and Best Picture and Mystic River (2005) and Letters From Iwo Jima (2006) garnered Best Picture and Director nominations as well. He is reputed never to shout or disru pt his actors when directing, keeps his set relatively calm and focused, and de livers his films under budget and with great speed. Being a lifelong fan of Eastwood, the actor, has been no easy task f or me, personally. The stereotype he virtually created -- laconic, lean, mean, mysterious and anonymous -- has been particularly hard to defend against nonsen sical accusations painting Eastwood as a lazy actor. I always argue that he act s in terms of gesture and economy of dialogue, but that is another story altoge ther. I have mixed feelings about why critics get to see a movie like this before I d o, but in large part due to Ben Stillerâs terrific Tropic Thunder, I can accept the logic easier now. The film is obviously up for the Academyâs consideration, and there is always t his drawn out process of taking out ads and lobbying for votes. Releasing two p ictures this year in the late fall has been the same strategy that Eastwood emp loyed in 2006 (Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers), the other film being a directorial effort, The Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie. Nonetheless, I am absolutely frantic in anticipation of seeing Gran Torino. I l oved the trailer, and have heard the tear-jerking closing credits song (co-written an d sung by Eastwood himself in a duet with English jazz singer Jamie Cullum). Iâm reading all the reviews I can possibly find. Iâm being sucked in slowly but surely, the same way I was during Million Dollar Babyâs pre-Oscar rituals. My crazy theory is that he lost out for Best Actor in Unforgiven and Million Dolla r because of a stellar but overshadowing supporting cast (Torino's supporting c ast are unknowns) that garnered both Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman their supp orting actor trophies. One feels that, at 78, perhaps wanting to go out with th e biggest bang possible, Eastwood the actor wants to make sure that all bases a re checked and is relying less on luck to bring in his potential first acting O scar. Whatever the outcome will probably not diminish his status, but a win against S ean Penn (directed by Eastwood in Mystic) and Dustin Hoffman, amongst others, w ould surely be a fitting coda to Eastwoodâs distinguished career.