If the Golden Globes somehow pass over this comedic gem for Best Comedy or Musical they'll lose whatever credibility they have. In fact, this is both a Comedy and a Musical, with Eastwood himself crooning out the closing song as the credits rolled. Yes, you heard that right. Clint getting his Celine Dion on. Its every bit what you might expect, and like the rest of the movie its comedy gold.
The premise of this movie is simple. Walt Kowalski is the last "real American" holdout in a deteriorating Detroit suburb. He's a ornery sumbitch who loves only his dead wife, dog, 3 packs a day, cooler full of PBR and the eponymous car of the flick. Over the course of the movie he softens just enough to take the neighbor boy under his wing in order to try and impart some manly wisdom to the lad. Naturally there is tension with the gangs who roll in the neighborhood and want to bring the boy into their group. Guns are flashed, tough words are exchanged, punks are roughed up a geriatric, kids are told multiple times to "get off my lawn", and the final resolution actually comes as a bit of a surprise.
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With the exception of The Man himself, who turns in a performance that at least is somewhat believable, the cast ranges from stiff to unintentionally funny to downright atrocious. The writing is little better and the "editing" makes you wonder what exactly they left out. The pacing is glacial, characters rice-paper thin and the symbolism has all the subtly of Clint bashing you over the head with a wrench pulled from his belt.
None of this matters. In fact, its all necessary, because the layers upon layers of crap somehow mesh into Clint Eastwood, I salute you. No other actor could have pulled this off to such perfection. Plug in an action star like Norris or Schwarzenegger (ha!) and the comedy falls flat. Try it with a more mainstream dramatic actor and we'd lose all believability. Only Clint could pull this off so perfectly, and if turning this pile of crap into pure entertainment isn't worthy of an award, I don't know what is.
None of this matters. In fact, its all necessary, because the layers upon layers of crap somehow mesh into Clint Eastwood, I salute you. No other actor could have pulled this off to such perfection. Plug in an action star like Norris or Schwarzenegger (ha!) and the comedy falls flat. Try it with a more mainstream dramatic actor and we'd lose all believability. Only Clint could pull this off so perfectly, and if turning this pile of crap into pure entertainment isn't worthy of an award, I don't know what is.
1 comment:
Agreed. One of the greatest comedies of our generation.
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