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Gran TorinoMovie Reviews

Poster art for "Gran Torino."
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Metascore®72 out of 100 | Generally favorable reviews

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 91
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    A movie at once understated and radical, deceptively unremarkable in presentation and ballsy in its earnestness. Don't let the star's overly familiar squint fool you: This is subtle, perceptive stuff. Read full review

  • 90
    The New York Times | Manohla Dargis

    Mr. Eastwood is also an adept director of his own performances and, perhaps more important, a canny manipulator of his own iconographic presence. Read full review

  • 90
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    Perhaps the best thing about Schenk's script is that it enticed Eastwood to end his self-imposed acting hiatus and bring his one-of-a-kind aura back to the screen. Read full review

  • 90
    Village Voice | Scott Foundas

    Above all, it feels like a summation of everything he (Eastwood) represents as a filmmaker and a movie star, and perhaps also a farewell. Read full review

  • 88
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    Stars Eastwood as an American icon once again -- this time as a cantankerous, racist, beer-chugging retired Detroit autoworker who keeps his shotgun ready to lock and load. Dirty Harry on a pension, we're thinking, until we realize that only the autoworker retired; Dirty Harry is still on the job. Read full review

  • 80
    The New Yorker | David Denby

    The movie was not written for Eastwood, but it still seems to be all about him--his past characters, his myth, his old role as a dispenser of raw justice. Read full review

  • 75
    The Onion (A.V. Club) | Keith Phipps

    Eastwood directs with his usual relaxed pace and bursts of intensity, a style that's pleasing to watch--and which, also as usual, never fully compensates for any shortcomings of the script handed to him. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Earnest and understated, Gran Torino is an unflinching examination of themes that have fascinated Eastwood in most of his recent films: family, war, loss, faith and unexpected human connection. Read full review

  • 75
    ReelViews | James Berardinelli

    An amazingly over-the-top anti-racism parable but, despite its obvious shortcomings, it is nevertheless effective and affecting. Read full review

  • 70
    Variety | Todd McCarthy

    Highlighted by the star's vastly entertaining performance, this funny, broad but ultimately serious-minded drama about an old-timer driven to put things right in his deteriorating neighborhood looks to be a big audience-pleaser. Read full review

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