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Eastwood's Gran Torino character descriptions released

Writer: Julia Reidy, photo by Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images
News, Published online on 06 May 2008

In 1971, Clint Eastwood starred in Dirty Harry, a film that sported the tagline, "You don't assign him to murder cases, you just turn him loose." Since then, Eastwood brought Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan to life four more times, turned loose in '73's Magnum Force, in '76's The Enforcer, in '83's Sudden Impact and in '88's The Dead Pool, satiating our renegade-cop hunger time and time again. But before we get carried away with gratitude, let us not forget the other contributions Eastwood's made to the moviegoing public during the last few decades, stretching his wings as a director of poignant and intelligent films like Letters from Iwo Jima, Million Dollar Baby and Mystic River. (Space Cowboys, anyone?) He even scored several of his best films himself—he's the real deal. The man's won four Oscars, after all.

Which is of course why everyone was so excited that Eastwood's upcoming Gran Torino, in which he's slated to direct, produce and star, began prompting rumors that not only was this an action film, it was a Dirty Harry film. Sadly, those rumors have now been silenced, as /Film got its hands on a list of character descriptions from the forthcoming flick. DH6 this is not.

Gran Torino will instead be a "coming of age buddy comedy" between a young South Asian boy and a "grumpy, tough-minded" widower named Walt Kowalski (Eastwood). Kowalski is a "borderline-hateful...unhappy" Korean War vet who cherishes is 1972 Gran Torino (hence the name), but who eventually befriends and stands up for his Hmong neighbors. Gran Tornio is set for release in December via Warner Brothers.

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Eastwood's Gran Torino character descriptions released

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