In what reportedly will be his final appearance in front of a camera, Clint Eastwood delivers a tour-de-force performance as a xenophobic war veteran in this timely, humanist drama.

While the rest of America looks to conflicts raging overseas, the veteran actor and director picks his thematic battles much closer to home.

In particular, he examines the clashes of ideals in predominantly white, blue-collar neighbourhoods, where the ethnic and cultural make-up has been irrevocably altered by the influx of immigrants.

This volatile mix of old and new, east and west, explodes with devastating consequences in Gran Torino, a powerful tale of modern day vigilantism based on a script by Nick Schenk.

At the emotional heart of the story is Walt Kowalski (Eastwood), a man haunted by his experiences in the Korean War and consumed by grief over the death of his beloved wife.

He is a man of few words, none of them kind, who harbours resentment towards everyone around him, including his two sons, Mitch (Haley) and Steve (Howe).

The old coot has no interest in the sermons of local priest Father Janovich (Carley), and even less time for the Asian next-door neighbours he labels “swamp rats”.

When Hmong gang-banger Spider (Moua) and his four-strong posse scrap with neighbour’s son Thao (Vang) on his lawn, Walt intervenes with his rifle.

Spider and co flee the scene and Thao’s older sister Sue (Her) shows her gratitude by strengthening ties between the two households. Against the odds, Walt finds himself warming to his neighbours and he takes Thao under his wing, encouraging the lad to become the man of his house.

However, Spider and his gang have Walt and his protege in their sights and the only language they understand begins with the pull of a trigger.

Gran Torino is another beautifully crafted, deeply compassionate and timely piece of filmmaking from Eastwood, which provokes difficult moral questions about personal responsibility and sacrifice in a world riven by gang violence and peer pressure.

The veteran star is mesmerising as a curmudgeon who chews on political correctness and spits out the bones, dismissing Sue’s heartfelt thanks for saving her brother by growling: “All I did was get a bunch of jabbering gooks off my lawn.”

The strength of the performance lies in Eastwood's ability to chip away at Walt’s steely facade and reveal the rage and despair within.

“I lived with death for three years in Korea,” Walt tells Father Janovich sadly, “I did things that won’t leave me till the day I die – horrible things, things I have to live with.”

“Sounds like you know more about death than you do living,” responds the holy man.

Newcomers Vang and Her pale next to such a formidable, eye-catching performance, particularly in the heart-wrenching final act when Walt proves that love has no limits.