Gran Torino

[rhetoricfemme]

What a great movie. Makes me die inside, but it's heart-warming, too.

I really like how Catholicism is sort of a character itself in the movie, and certainly portrayed well. Has anyone else seen Gran Torino? What did you think of it?

[ardillacid]

Excellent.

[Jesus_lol]

loved this movie. made me hopeful that i could remain a bada$$ when i get old like Clint.

Edited May 9, 2010 by Jesus_lol

[laetitia crucis]

I absolutely loved that movie -- bittersweet and so well done!

[CatherineM]

I liked it too, eventhough it was pretty sad. Having done some family law, I will tell you that the way his family was acting is the rule rather than the exception. Many think of older relatives as simply an investment account they are waiting on to mature.

[TeresaBenedicta]

One of my favorite movies, most definitely!!

[rhetoricfemme]

[quote name='CatherineM' date='09 May 2010 - 10:27 AM' timestamp='1273415254' post='2107652']
I liked it too, eventhough it was pretty sad. Having done some family law, I will tell you that the way his family was acting is the rule rather than the exception. Many think of older relatives as simply an investment account they are waiting on to mature.
[/quote]
That is extremely sad.

My mother and aunt actually got banned from funerals in Missouri for wigging out on some of my uncles when they showed up at my grandpa's funeral. He had cancer, and we all knew he was about to pass on, and apparently my uncles didn't even wait for him to die before going into his house and taking the things they wanted. Then the funeral was like an after-thought for them, I guess.

Your comment about, "waiting on to mature," gave me another thought, though. Our lives go on in Heaven, and at that point we've matured.

[Lil Red]

[quote name='rhetoricfemme' date='08 May 2010 - 10:18 PM' timestamp='1273382319' post='2107525']
What a great movie. Makes me die inside, but it's heart-warming, too.

I really like how Catholicism is sort of a character itself in the movie, and certainly portrayed well. Has anyone else seen Gran Torino? What did you think of it?
[/quote]
loved it

[Sternhauser]

Spoiler warning.



I thought it was a terribly implausible and naive ending, given that what all those witnesses saw was the same thing that caused the thugs to do what they did. If I were a witness, and I saw Clint do what he did, I'd say, "Yeah, looks like they might have been justified in doing what they did."

Hardly a "confession" he made, too. His character reeked of the typical fallen-away Catholic "I Did It My Way" cafeteria Catholic attitude. Archbishop Fulton Sheen rightly called that ditty "The theme song of Hell."

~Sternhauser

Edited May 16, 2010 by Sternhauser

[Jesus_lol]

[quote name='Sternhauser' date='15 May 2010 - 08:40 PM' timestamp='1273981221' post='2111291']
Spoiler warning.



I thought it was a terribly implausible and naive ending, given that what all those witnesses saw was the same thing that caused the thugs to do what they did. If I were a witness, and I saw Clint do what he did, I'd say, "Yeah, looks like they might have been justified in doing what they did."

Hardly a "confession" he made, too. His character reeked of the typical fallen-away Catholic "I Did It My Way" cafeteria Catholic attitude. Archbishop Fulton Sheen rightly called that ditty "The theme song of Hell."

~Sternhauser
[/quote]

i dont think he was ever really a catholic in that movie, he went mostly for his wifes sake.

[ardillacid]

[quote name='Sternhauser' date='15 May 2010 - 11:40 PM' timestamp='1273981221' post='2111291']


I thought it was a terribly implausible and naive ending, given that what all those witnesses saw was the same thing that caused the thugs to do what they did. If I were a witness, and I saw Clint do what he did, I'd say, "Yeah, looks like they might have been justified in doing what they did."


[/quote]
Putting your hand in your jacket is hardly an excuse to shoot someone, except in a society with no laws

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='notardillacid' date='16 May 2010 - 02:33 AM' timestamp='1273995226' post='2111355']
Putting your hand in your jacket is hardly an excuse to shoot someone, except in a society with no laws
[/quote]
Zing!

[Sternhauser]

[quote name='notardillacid' date='16 May 2010 - 02:33 AM' timestamp='1273995226' post='2111355']
Putting your hand in your jacket is hardly an excuse to shoot someone, except in a society with no laws
[/quote]

Tell that to Amadou Diallo, and tell that to the police. They do it all the time. And get away with it. Putting one's hand in one's jacket so quickly and causing someone to reasonably fear for his life makes such a reaction justifiable. But not usually not on the part of the police, who deliberately put themselves in those situations, often by unnecessarily stopping someone, backed up with the threat of violence, for a malfunctioning tail light or a safe rolling stop. There was a recent case of a man who had just about enough of police interference in his life. He was pulled over for not wearing a seat belt. He killed the aggressor officer (though I doubt it was a justified level of violence) with an M-1 Carbine. He wasn't a violent criminal. He wasn't a druggie. He was an old man who was tired of getting robbed of $100 every time he chose not to wear a seat belt. It had happened multiple times before.

The thugs in the movie could have probably told a consistent story, even under individual questioning, about what this guy had already done that led to their belief that he was going to do them harm. A little "get off my lawn" incident with a Garand, for example.

~Sternhauser

Edited May 16, 2010 by Sternhauser

[Sternhauser]

[quote name='Jesus_lol' date='16 May 2010 - 12:53 AM' timestamp='1273989180' post='2111340']
i dont think he was ever really a catholic in that movie, he went mostly for his wifes sake.
[/quote]

I was responding to the statement, "I really like how Catholicism is sort of a character itself in the movie, and certainly portrayed well." I didn't see how Catholicism was portrayed well, except in the priest, of course. I saw Catholicism portrayed in an impious way, "I can do it on my own" and "I can get to heaven, if it even exists, on my own terms."

~Sternhauser

[Winchester]

He doubtless baited them, especially considering the history between them. They were under no moral obligation to wait. But insofar as the DA would be concerned, they riddled an old unarmed man full of holes. The law would have lots of information on them.

It is naive to think that the family would suddenly be safe, but the movie isn't meant to be realistic, it's meant to be a story conveying an idea.