The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

What if I were to shoot a movie depicting the lives of second-generation Swedish immigrants? Swedes and non-Swedes would very likely find fault with my depiction, saying things like "Well, that's not at all what Svenskarnasdag is like" or "All Swedes don't eat lutefisk, y'know" or "We all don't talk that way, by golly."

Even though my immigrant grandfather did speak "that way," and he and his relatives did eat lutefisk, and that my memories of Svenskarnasdag are from my own youth?

On the other hand, we hear from the revisionists who want, for the sake of equality and diversity, to put people in movies where they don't historically belong. One example I can think of were the complaints about another Eastwood movie -- set in WWII -- that there weren't any black soldiers depicted. Well, gosh, there weren't any blacks involved in the real battle (Guadalcanal?) any more than there were white fighter pilots flying Mustangs as Tuskegee airmen.

I think that's what they call "Linkbaiting," Baker.

My mom told the neighbor kids to get off her lawn whilst shaking a rake at them this summer. It was awesome.

Did Nick Schenk write this in MN? Someone told me he used to sit and write at NE Grumpy's. Oh, how the gossip in this town swirls about the wild times of Nick Schenk. I wish he would pop in here and defend himself.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the movie for Eastwood alone, and for the Hmong stuff. Did someone already discuss the possibility of the first evar MNspeak movie meetup?

This is what the Strib said, Jane:

The script had humble roots in Schenk's friendships with old soldiers he met while clerking at the St. Anthony Village Liquor Warehouse and with his Hmong co-workers on the night shift at a Bloomington factory that packaged videotapes. and: "Loading trucks every day, your back was tired but your mind was fresh.

And:

I had met all these old vets at the liquor store. They came in every day for a pint of their 'medicine,' with stories they couldn't tell their wives and children. I was the outlet. So I'd just roll into Grumpy's [Bar, a northeast Minneapolis dive], where my friend was the bartender, and write the stuff longhand on a pad of paper.

The movie's good, and surprisingly funny. BTW, Clint didn't have a shotgun. It was an M1, the standard army rifle from Korea and WWII.

The movie is quite good. The character IS unapologetically racist, but that's the point. You get the typical Clint Eastwood bad assness, a bit of well-placed humor, a strangely heartwarming tale of friendship, and a coming of age story. I really, really liked this flick. I didn't know the writer was from Minnesota, but there are a few indications that it's set in the Midwest, not MN in general though. Eastwood's pissed-off-old-man faces in it are worth seeing it alone.

The movie is set in Highland Park, MI. In the film you can see Eastwood's character driving around Lake Shore Drive in Grosse Pointe, MI. I personally loved the film and enjoyed the explanations of Hmong culture.

Highland Park makes North Minneapolis look like paradise.

I saw it last night.
It was good, but I did recognize some of the awkwardness of the hmong actors. That vbeing said, I think it fit ok, because of the awkwardness that would really be present in a situation like this in real ife...

Overall it was a good movie, and it made me guiltily laugh.

I was in the St. Louis Park theatre, filled with primarily middle aged white folks. It was almost an outburst of laughter at every little quip. I imagine if I had watched this movie in an inner city theatre it might have been much more 'quiet'

But, there were some creative ones, that is for sure!

...won't be surprised if it wins some award.

Kind of hoping it doesn't. The more awards it wins, the longer the DVD release will be delayed, and the longer I'll have to wait to b e able to see it.

They were probably saying: "Eastwood smells like a dog today."

"Hey all you Hmong viewers! We're not getting paid enough."

Just saw this last night. It was obvious it was supposed to be in Michigan, as they alluded to Eastwood working 50 years for Ford, the 6-month long winters and especially the last scene which is shot on the shore of Lake Michigan. Not sure exactly where in Michigan this was supposed to be, but it doesn't really matter.

Very good flick, funny and a more/less unpredictable ending with a nice twist. I really liked the Hmong actors, and the main boy (Toad/Tao) was actually in my daughter's English class last year at the U of M. Politically incorrect? That was the whole point of Eastwood's character, as well as the barber. And don't tell me the grandma was not a racist, she was pretty funny too. Nice humor throughout.

Hey ddubbs - Detroit is not on Lake Michigan, it's Lake St. Claire (the same lake that is in the map hung in his character's basement stairwell), and that scene is actually Lakeshore Drive in Grosse Pointe.