History Film / GranTorino

* [[spoiler: CrucifiedHeroShot]]: [[spoiler: Walt, after he gets shot to death by the Hmong gang at the end of the movie.]]

* GutturalGrowler: Again, Walt.

* XMeetsY: This film could be summarized as being Scent of a Woman meets Unforgiven

* X Meets Y: This film could be summarized as being Scent of a Woman meets Unforgiven

* CoolGun: Walt's M1 Garand rifle and [=M1911A1=] pistol. He carried both of them in combat. In the 1940s and 50s, the US Army allowed combat veterans to buy their issued rifles and pistol.

* ConvenientTerminalIllness: [[spoiler:Walt has lung cancer and coughs up blood several times during the movie.]]

[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gran_torino_poster.jpg]] [[caption-width-right:260: "[[Main/MundaneMadeAwesome Get off my lawn..."]]]]

* ConvenientTerminalIllness: [[spoiler:Walt.]]

* HateSink: Before we are introduced to Spider and his gang, we have Walt's sons and their selfish families at the beginning of the movie due to their selfishness to swindle Walt of his possessions and their IrrationalHatred of Walt.

[[quoteright:260:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gran_torino_poster.jpg]]

''Gran Torino'' is a 2008 film, directed by and starring Creator/ClintEastwood, in what was once rumoured to be his final onscreen performance[[note]]It wasn't; he later had lead roles in ''Film/TroubleWithTheCurve'' and ''Film/TheMule'', as well as a cameo in ''Film/AmericanSniper'' since[[/note]].

** Walt's Torino's license plate has three letters, followed by three numbers followed by one letter. Michigan license plates have three letters followed by four numbers.

* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Ashley Kowalski, ''grand''daughter in this case. She smokes in Walt's garage and then starts tactlessly asking for his possessions after he dies.

* KickTheDog: Just see how Walt's family treat his wife's death and his granddaughter's greed and cruelty.

''Gran Torino'' is a 2008 film, directed by and starring Creator/ClintEastwood, in what was once rumoured to be his final onscreen performance[[note]]It wasn't, he's had lead roles in ''Film/TroubleWithTheCurve'' and ''Film/TheMule'', as well as a cameo in ''Film/AmericanSniper'' since[[/note]]. He plays Walter "Walt" Kowalski, an elderly retired veteran of UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar living in Highland Park, Michigan (a rundown suburb of UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}}), shortly after the death of his wife. He has difficulty relating to his two grown up sons, who are caught up in their own lives, and generally disapproves of the way the world is changing, such as the influx of the ''Hmong'' People, immigrants who fled Laos after UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. Next door is Thao Vang Lor, a quiet boy who is pressured into joining his cousin Spider's gang. As part of his "initiation", Thao is pressured to steal Walt's prized possession, a 1972 Ford Gran Torino, but fails, and is caught. For dishonoring his family, Thao's mother asks Walt to accept Thao's help in doing chores around his house, which leads to an OddFriendship. Spider, upset at Thao's rejection of his gang, begins to retaliate against the family, forcing Walt to intervene.

* AntiClimax: [[spoiler:Walt's confrontation with the gang members at their house is framed like a massive gunfight is going to happen, like the one from the finale of ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}''. Then Walt reaches into his jacket... and is promptly riddled with bullets, and falls over dead. [[HeroicSacrifice Exactly as Walt planned]]: no judge would side with a gang of known hooligans over a white, decorated and more importantly ''[[ShootHimHeHasAWallet unarmed]]'' war veteran who they murdered in cold blood in the street.]]

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: As mentioned in the above, this film deconstructs the usual Creator/ClintEastwood character in his crime films like Unforgiven did for his western character. Walt in this movie has the usual grouchy standoffish behavior-that also means his own family can't deal with him because of how difficult he is and likewise he has very few friends. When (like in the usual Eastwood movie) he tries to intervene in-between the conflict with Thao's family and the gang, he only makes the situation worse. [[spoiler: Walt in the end also defeats the gang members in the end not by shooting them like what you expect in a Eastwood movie, but instead out smarting them into killing him in front of a whole bunch of witnesses that will in turn get them sent to prison for the rest of their life.]]

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: As mentioned in the above, this film deconstructs the usual Creator/ClintEastwood character in his crime films like Unforgiven did for his western character. Walt in this movie has the usual grouchy standoffish behavior-that also means his own family can't deal with him because of how difficult he is and likewise he has very few friends. When (like in the usual Eastwood movie) he tries to intervene between the conflict with Thao's family and the gang, he only makes the situation worse. [[spoiler: Walt in the end also defeats the gang members in the end not by shooting them like what you expect in a Eastwood movie, but instead out smarting them into killing him in front of a whole bunch of witnesses that will in turn get them sent to prison for the rest of their life.]]

* YoureNotMyFather: While they don't actually say this, it's clear Walt's two sons have irreconcilably denounced[=/=]disowned him as their father long before the film's events due to their established distant relationship, only caring to hope for his impeding death out of IrrationalHatred behind his back to relieve them of his existence to completely inherit his precious belongings for their own ends.