Eastwood’s Gran Torino to Be a Comedy

There were rumors flying around for months that Clint Eastwood’s next directorial effort after Changeling, the upcoming Gran Torino was to be the next installment in the Dirty Harry franchise. Seeing as Eastwood is almost 78 years old, I never bought this for a second and it turns out my instincts were right. Gran Torino is instead going to be “a witty, coming-of-age, buddy comedy”. Moviehole has the word on the plot:

“The car is the prized possession of the film’s central character (he doesn’t budge when his granddaughter mentions that she’d like the car when pop finally keels over) a senior named Walt, grandfather and local sour-puss. When a local Asian boy named Tao attempts to steal the car, Walt, against the advice of others (largely the local priest), forms his own form of punishment. Ultimately, Walt sets Tao on the right path – giving him a job (even if it’s just doing things around the house for the old man) and teaching him how to communicate with others (there’s some VERY funny stuff in it where Walt has Tao practice his newly honed-speaking skills on the local Barber).”

It hasn’t been confirmed one way or another, but I think it’s safe to say that Clint Eastwood will play the part of Walt. I mean, who else? This will be a nice change of pace for Eastwood, as most of his films as of late, while great, have been brutal and depressing. Whereas if this had been another Dirty Harry film, I would be both disappointed and weary, now I’m pretty ecstatic to see Eastwood (a hero of mine) tackle something new like this.

So, would you have rather this been another Dirty Harry movie? If not, would you rather this be something more dramatic like he’s been doing so well lately rather than a comedy?