Erika Nilsson

Walt Kowalski is an old war veteran who knows how to scowl, wheeze, growl, squint, spit, swear, use guns and make big, tough gang boys pee themselves (Clint Eastwood may be almost 80, but he hasn’t lost his touch). He has no more contact with his two sons and their families than is absolutely necessary, and the three loves of his life are his wife, his labrador and his 1972 Gran Torino.

The story begins with Mrs Kowalski’s funeral, and Walt’s scowling at his grand-children’s bad posture, navel piercing and Austin Powers quotes, respectively (the cinema audience giggles). Then, the young padre who Mrs Kowalski talked to before her death tries to get a confession out of Walt, who confesses “that [he doesn't] want to confess to a boy who’s just out of seminar” (the audience snorts). That’s about the most polite we see him.