Get your giant Slurpee and a big bucket of Popcorn, sit down and watch a master craftsman at work. Even though he is pushing 80, Clint Eastwood’s latest film, Gran Torino,  in which he both stars and directs, proves that age does not dull the talent.

Gran Torino is the story of Walt Kowalski, a bigoted Korean War Veteran and ex-Ford factory worker who has seen his Detroit neighbourhood taken over by Asian immigrants. Having recently lost his wife, his family wants him to move from the area and into a retirement community. One night he catches his young next door neighbour, Thao, played by Bee Vang, trying to steal his prized posession, a 1972 Ford Gran Torino as part of a gang initiation. A gang he doesn’t want to join. After he stands up to the gang, Kowalski becomes a hero to the local Hmong immigrants and he strikes up a friendship with the family next door when Thao is forced to work for Kowalski to apologise for attempting to steal the car. A fued develops between Kowalski and the Hmong gang.

I wont go into further detail as it will spoil the story for you, but I will say that this is a film well worth the admission money. Eastwood is great as the gnarly old war veteran with almost every line being delivered through clenched teeth as only Eastwood can. I will guarantee that “Get off my lawn” will become almost as famous as “Go ahead, make my day” in the catalogue of great Eastwood lines. It is a film that explores the relationship between Americans and new immigrants, between the older and younger generations and between the different cultures and ethnicities in the area.

If you like your films to be Politically correct…. do not go and see this. The range of offensive terms for various ethnic groups was pretty big but delivered in such a way that everybody got a taste of it rather than just one particular group. Black, Asian, Hispanic, Polish, Italian and Irish all get a share of the abuse.

There is already awards buzz for this film and early numbers suggest that this could be the surprise hit of the year. I would urge any fan of Eastwood to go and see this and even if you aren’t a big fan, go and see it anyway. You will not be disappointed.

Score 9 out of 10