Plot Summary for
Gran Torino (2008) More at IMDbPro »

Walt Kowalski is a widower who holds onto his prejudices despite the changes in his Michigan neighborhood and the world around him. Kowalski is a grumpy, tough-minded, unhappy an old man, who can't get along with either his kids or his neighbors, a Korean War veteran whose prize possession is a 1972 Gran Torino he keeps in mint condition. When his neighbor Thao, a young Hmong teenager under pressure from his gang member cousin, tries to steal his Gran Torino, Kowalski sets out to reform the youth. Drawn against his will into the life of Thao's family, Kowalski is soon taking steps to protect them from the gangs that infest their neighborhood. Written by alfiehitchie

Elderly Walt Kowalski is recently widowed. Much of Walt's views of life are shaped by his time in the Korean War. On strained relations with his grown sons and not wanting the advice of the priest of his wife's church, Walt is a gruff man who has few friends. As such, he lives a solitary life with his pet Labrador retriever Daisy in the same house he has lived in for years, which is located in a working class Highland Park, Michigan neighborhood. Recently, the neighborhood has gone through changes where it is now racially mixed. The Lor family, of ethnic Hmong descent, move into the house next door to Walt's, the family which includes two teenagers, streetwise Sue and shy Thao. Initially Walt wants nothing to do with his new foreign neighbors. Slowly, Walt does get involved in Sue and Thao's lives, despite Thao having once tried to steal Walt's beloved 1972 Gran Torino. That attempted theft was a Hmong gang initiation ritual, a gang to which Thao does not want to belong. Walt sees that Sue and Thao will never be able to live in peace as long as that gang exists. As his teen-aged neighbors' unofficial protector, Walt has to figure out how best to restore his sense of right in the neighborhood. Written by Huggo

In Michigan, the grumpy widower Walt Kowalski is a Korean War veteran full of prejudice that has just lost his beloved wife Dorothy. He is one of the last Caucasian Americans in his neighborhood and does not have good relationship with his sons and their families; therefore he is a lonely man. When his teenager neighbor Thao Vang Lor is pressed by his cousin Smokie to join his Hmong gang, he is assigned to steal the Gran Torino of Walt as part of his initiation in the gang. However he is surprised by the old man and his traditional family feels ashamed with the incident. Later Walt saves Thao first and his sister Sue Lor from gangs and he has the gratitude of his next door neighbors and the neighborhood. On the day of his birthday, Walt is invited by Sue to join her family reunion and he begins a relationship with his neighbors, helping Thao to get a job. However he realizes that the Hmong gang disturbs the neighborhood and after a coward attack of the gangster, Walt decides to take an ultimate attitude. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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