GRAN TORINO — ★★1/2 — Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Ahney Her; with English subtitles (Asian dialects); rated R (profanity, slurs, violence, vulgarity, nude photos, brief gore); in general release

The character that Clint Eastwood plays in "Gran Torino" could have been nicknamed "Dirty Mouthed Harry," in reference to his earlier, popular recurring movie role as vigilante cop "Dirty" Harry Callahan.

And believe it or not, the characters share some similarities. This particular character dismisses others with a variety of slurs (racial and other epithets, as well as similarly derisive terms), or with strong profanity. He uses his words in a way that Callahan used bullets — and sometimes his fists.

In fact, the only reason why there isn't more furor about the racist tone to his diatribes and the film in general is because the character is played by Eastwood, an actor who's earned general good will from audiences and is pretty much expected to play a cranky old man these days.

Still, the strong, often unpleasant or upsetting language leaves an aftertaste to this character drama. It might have the best of intentions, but it's definitely not an easy movie to watch — even when the tone grows a bit lighter.

Eastwood directed the film and stars as Walt Kowalski, a Korean War veteran who's just lost his wife and, as a result, seems to have lost his will to live.

Walt is also growing disenchanted with the makeup of his suburban Detroit neighborhood, especially when the Lors, a Vietnamese family, move in next door.

So he doesn't seem too surprised when one of the youngest family members, Thao (Bee Vang), breaks into his garage — to steal his vintage car.

The crime is supposed to be Thao's initiation into a Hmong gang, but when Walt stops the theft, he inadvertently becomes the protector to both Thao and his sister, Sue (Ahney Her).

As much as he keeps others at arm's length and as much as he growls and sputters, we're really not sure if we're supposed to like this guy.

Again, the only reason we're disposed to do that is because Walt is played by Eastwood.

And as director, Eastwood probably should have done some more work with newcomers Vang and Her. They seem uncomfortable, and their performances are stiff, sometimes wooden.

Also, a subplot about a priest (Christopher Carley) who tries to redeem Walt seems to be there only to make fun of organized religion.

"Gran Torino" is rated R and features strong sexual language (profanity, vulgar slang terms and other suggestive talk), derogatory slurs and language, some strong violence (shootings, brawling, some bullying and violence against women, mostly implied), glimpses of nude photos, and some brief gore and blood. Running time: 117 minutes.

E-mail: jeff@desnews.com