One blog. Two opinions. One zillion films.

Dave-

We’ve experienced this movie quite differently.  Although I see  caricature in the way Clint plays Walt, I also see a man of the sort I’ve known, and that makes Clint’s Walt Kowalski a character I responded to.  Many’s the time I’ve listened to people I otherwise respect use racial epithets.  Listening to that language, particularly if it is being aimed at a specific person, is horrible.   It springs from fear and insecurity.

Walt keeps the world at bay out of fear.  He’s not comfortable in his own skin. Speaking of tools, his drinking is a tool.  A tool to drown sorrows and pain.   Walt has lots of tools.  Whether they’re working for him or not is another matter.

I was moved by the story, the interactions.  I found this character sympathetic; he pays the ultimate price, after all.   Not a major film, perhaps, but one that will stick with me.  Bullets bounce off Clint, until they don’t.  If this is his last time starring in one of his films, it is a strong finish; much stronger than the last film he was involved with, Changeling.  Hooking up with Jolie for a movie that was, by most accounts, mediocre, when he expected fireworks, must have been disappointing.

What a filmography!   What contributions he’s made.   Clint Eastwood is many things, and one of the things he is is an American hero-action figure.