Gran Torino was recognized by the American Film Institute as one of the Ten Best Films of 2008.[25] Clint Eastwood's performance has also garnered recognition. He won an award for Best Actor from the National Board of Review,[26] he was nominated for the Broadcast Film Critics Association (Critics' Choice Awards) and by the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards for Best Actor.[27][28] An original song from the film, "Gran Torino", was nominated for the Golden Globe Awards for Best Original Song. The music is by Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Kyle Eastwood, and Michael Stevens, with Cullum penning the lyrics.[29] The Art Directors Guild nominated Gran Torino in the contemporary film category.[30]
The film, however, was almost ignored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the 81st Academy Awards when it was not nominated for a single Oscar, which led to heated criticism from critics, who felt that the Academy had also deliberately snubbed The Dark Knight, Revolutionary Road and Changeling from the five major categories.[31][32]
In 2010, the film was named Best Foreign Film at the César Awards in France.[33]
