Photo from McClatchy Tribune

Clint Eastwood just keeps on truckin̢۪. Just when I think he̢۪s gone and done his last great film, he goes and makes another.

His latest, “Gran Torino,â€Â is the best he has directed since the 2005 Best Picture winner “Million Dollar Baby.â€Â

The film, based on the collaborated story by Dave Johannson and Nick Schenk, is definitely not for the faint of ear. The movie tackles the issue of racism head-on, bulldozing through offensive speech like a kid through a sandbox.

Eastwood plays Walter Kowalski, a tough old coot and Korean War vet who has just lost his wife. Despite the well-meaning of a baby-faced priest (Christopher Carley) and his two grown sons (Brian Haley and Brian Howe) he just wants to be left alone.

It takes the persistent kindness of his next-door neighbor, Sue (Ahney Her) and her brother Thao (Bee Vang), to break through the barrier of his self-imposed solitude.

After a failed gang initiation and a subsequent run-in with the gang, Walter and Thao form a tentative friendship that blossoms into mutual respect and kinship.

Eastwood is a “grade-A badass” here, with the same gruff voice he had as Marshel Jed in “Hang ‘Em Highâ€Â and the big guns he had in “Dirty Harry.â€Â He chews up the scenery, as a character both tough and vulnerable, stealing every scene he is in.

This is a credit to him, of course, but has the disadvantage of making all other acting look mediocre by comparison.

“Gran Torinoâ€Â meanders along at a rather leisurely pace as the story unfolds and we get to know the characters, but the last third quickens with a barrage of bullets, leading to a final showdown, reminiscent of one of Eastwood’s aforementioned westerns.

Nominated for only one Golden Globe and completely overlooked by The Oscars this year, “Gran Torinoâ€Â may not be considered the best film of 2008, but it is definitely worth seeing for any Eastwood aficionado.