Clint Eastwood is subtly commanding in this engaging, elegiac drama, writes MICHAEL DWYER

WHEN WE first meet Walt Kowalski (played by Clint Eastwood), he’s at that painful juncture in life where he attends his wife’s funeral. Now he has only his dog, Daisy, for company when he sits on the veranda of his suburban Detroit home, smoking, drinking beer and musing intolerantly on the growing ethnic population of his neighbourhood.

A decorated veteran of the Korean war, Walt’s vocabulary is unlimited in its store of racial epithets he uses when referring to his neighbours, regardless of the fact that he, being Polish-American, comes from an immigrant background. He spurns any attempted contact with, or friendly overtures from, the Asian- American family next door. Walt’s wife was a devout Catholic, but he rebuffs the concerned young parish priest (Christopher Carley) as “an over-educated 27-year-old virgin”.

Like the father in Harry Chapin's song Cat's in the Cradle, Walt regrets not having spent more time with his sons when they were young, and now they have no time for him. He resents their patronising attitude and broad hints about retirement homes. Having worked for Ford for more than 50 years, he is furious that one of his sons works for a Japanese car manufacturer – and drives one of its vehicles.

Walt is a quintessential grumpy old man, stubbornly independent and self-sufficient. It is as much of a surprise to him as it is to us when he tentatively befriends his shy teen neighbour Thao (Bee Vang) and protectively saves him from a local gang. And he unexpectedly discovers a rapport with Thao’s sister Sue (Abney Her), who is smart and ambitious.

On one level, Gran Torinois a fascinating character study of man who has served his country and now feels like a stranger in his own land, a man who, for all his prejudices, has maintained an unwavering moral compass and is intent on upholding the relics of old decency.

It is tempting, and all too easy, to view Walt Kowalski as the aged, retired version of Eastwood's right- wing cop in the Dirty Harrymovies. While the two clearly have a lot in common, they are observed in essentially different contexts: the action-driven thriller in the earlier movies, and a contemplative moral drama in Gran Torino.

The new film takes its title from the 1972 Ford model, which has pride of place in Walt’s garage and which he treats with more affection and respect than anyone except his dog – until a disturbing sequence of events impel him into action for the first time since he served in Korea.

Skilfully structured by writer Nick Schenk, the narrative unfolds at a perfectly measured pace, and it’s sprinkled with humour, not least in Walt’s most extreme bigoted outbursts. Doubling as director, Eastwood treats the material in classically formed style, expertly judging its simmering progress until it achieves catharsis in a powerful, bracing ending.

As an actor, Eastwood has rarely been so engaging and so subtly commanding in a performance that ranks high – and arguably highest – in his remarkable career. It is shameful that his performance and film were passed over in this year's Oscar nominations, although he can take consolation from the fact that Gran Torinohas become his most commercially successful movie in the US.

That, one hopes, may dissuade Eastwood from adhering to his claims that this is his final acting role and that he will concentrate on directing from now on. If Gran Torinodoes prove to be his last picture before the camera, it will be a fitting swan song.

Directed by Clint Eastwood. Starring Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Ahney Her, Christopher Carley, Brian Haley, Geraldine Hughes, John Carroll Lynch 15A cert, gen release, 116 min ★★★★