Growing up in suburbia, there was always at least one man whose pride and joy was his lawn. Every week like clockwork he would man the lawnmower with all the sense of mission of a grand master oil painter. His lawn was meticulously groomed, and nobody was going to mess with the artistry of his perfect lines, half with the grain, half against the grain. Pity the kid whose errant baseball flew out of reach and onto his property.

In this scene from “Gran Torino”, Clint Eastwood takes this protection to the extreme. While seemingly offering protection to his neighbors being bullied by a bunch of ruffians, he chases the bad guys off with a clearly bad case of PTSD from his days in Korea. When his neighbors offer their thanks, he makes it clear (with some salty language, so be forewarned) that he’s more interested in protecting his turf than protecting his neighbors. I promise, you will never hear the phrase “Get off my lawn” without thinking of Clint.