Eastwood gives possibly his most searing performance as a crotchety old man who seems to be losing his grip on everything that holds meaning to him, and yet continues to hold on tight in the face of inevitability. He's a war veteran who's seen and done horrible things in the name of god and country and simply wants to live out the rest of his life in peace and dignity. But the world around him just doesn't seem willing to do everything his way. And that's where his blood really boils.

He's unapologetically racist and unbending in his world view. And he's none too pleased when a family of Asian immigrants moves in next door to him, with their smelly food and strange customs, and their seeming involvement with a small time local gang. But after a strange series of events, he is forced to look past the prejudiced facades he's erected around them and see them for who they are: fellow humans. And it's not long before his life becomes intertwined with theirs, to an amazing degree.

This is my favorite Eastwood performance, and one of my very favorite of his films as director as well. His constant simmering and relentless glares of pure disdain fly off the screen, making you at once afraid of, repulsed by, and sympathetic towards this broken old man who is just trying to stay true to a code which has worn sorely out of adjustment from years of reclusion and hard-line extremism. Yet as this character evolves, we get to see the best of both his old and new selves, as his particular powers are put to use towards good ends rather than bad. It's almost as if this man were a phoenix who burned his own soul to the ground, only to rise up from the rubble in a powerful selfless ascension.

You'll have to see it for yourself to judge. But do make sure you see it.