Editing Clint Eastwood (section)

=== 1990–2009: critical acclaim and awards success ===
Eastwood directed and starred in ''[[White Hunter Black Heart]]'' (1990), an adaptation of [[Peter Viertel]]'s ''[[roman à clef]]'', about [[John Huston]] and the making of the classic film ''[[The African Queen (film)|The African Queen]]''. Shot on location in Zimbabwe in the summer of 1989,<ref>[[#McGilligan|McGilligan]], p. 452</ref> the film received some critical attention but with only a limited release earned just $8.4&nbsp;million.<ref name="McG461">[[#McGilligan|McGilligan]], p. 461</ref> Eastwood directed and co-starred with [[Charlie Sheen]] in ''[[The Rookie (1990 film)|The Rookie]]'', a buddy cop action film released in December 1990. Critics found the film's plot and characterization unconvincing, but praised its action sequences.<ref>[[#McGilligan|McGilligan]], p. 460</ref> An ongoing lawsuit, in response to Eastwood allegedly ramming a woman's car,<ref>[[#McGilligan|McGilligan]], p. 466</ref> resulted in no Eastwood films being shown in cinemas in 1991.<ref name="McG467">[[#McGilligan|McGilligan]], p. 467</ref> Eastwood won the suit and agreed to pay the complainant's legal fees if she did not appeal.<ref name="McG467" />

{{blockquote|quote=[I]f possible, he looks even taller, leaner and more mysteriously possessed than he did in Sergio Leone's seminal ''Fistful of Dollars'' a quarter of a century ago. The years haven't softened him. They have given him the presence of some fierce force of nature, which may be why the landscapes of the mythic, late 19th-century West become him, never more so than in his new ''Unforgiven''.{{nbsp}}... This is his richest, most satisfying performance since the underrated, politically lunatic ''Heartbreak Ridge''. There's no one like him.|source=Vincent Canby of ''The New York Times'', on Eastwood's performance in ''Unforgiven''<ref>{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0CE7DB103EF934A3575BC0A964958260 |last=Canby |first=Vincent |author-link=Vincent Canby |title=Unfo |date=August 7, 1992 |access-date=January 17, 2011 |work=The New York Times |archive-date=July 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725200316/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0CE7DB103EF934A3575BC0A964958260 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

Eastwood revisited the western genre in ''[[Unforgiven]]'' (1992), a film which he directed and starred in as an aging ex-gunfighter long past his prime. Scripts existed for the film as early as 1976 under titles such as ''The Cut-Whore Killings'' and ''The William Munny Killings'', but Eastwood delayed the project because he wanted to wait until he was old enough to play his character and to savor it as the last of his western films.<ref name="McG467" /> ''Unforgiven'' was a major commercial and critical success; Jack Methews of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' described it as "the finest classical western to come along since perhaps John Ford's 1956 ''[[The Searchers (film)|The Searchers]]''".<ref name="McG473">[[#McGilligan|McGilligan]], p. 473</ref> The film was nominated for nine [[Academy Award]]s<ref>[[#McGilligan|McGilligan]], p. 475</ref> (including [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] for Eastwood and Best Original Screenplay for [[David Webb Peoples]]), and won four, including [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] and [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] for Eastwood. In 2008 ''Unforgiven'' was ranked as the fourth-best American western, behind ''[[Shane (film)|Shane]]'', ''[[High Noon]]'', and ''The Searchers'' in the [[American Film Institute]]'s "[[AFI's 10 Top 10]]" list.<ref>{{cite news |author=American Film Institute |title=AFI Crowns Top 10 Films in 10 Classic Genres |publisher=ComingSoon.net |date=June 17, 2008 |url=https://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=46072 |access-date=January 17, 2011 |author-link=American Film Institute |archive-date=August 18, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080818100312/http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=46072 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Top Western |url=http://www.afi.com/10top10/western.html |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605084249/http://www.afi.com/10top10/western.html |archive-date=June 5, 2011 |url-status=dead  |access-date=January 17, 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Clint Eastwood Cannes 1993.jpg|thumb|upright=0.81|left|Eastwood at the [[1993 Cannes Film Festival]]]]

Eastwood played Frank Horrigan in the [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] thriller ''[[In the Line of Fire]]'' (1993), directed by [[Wolfgang Petersen]] and co-starring [[John Malkovich]] and [[Rene Russo]]. Horrigan is a guilt-ridden Secret Service agent haunted by his failure to save [[John F. Kennedy]]'s life.<ref>[[#Schickel|Schickel]], p. 471</ref> The film was among the top&nbsp;10 box office performers in that year, earning $102&nbsp;million in the United States alone, and 25 years after he was first listed on Quigley's Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll, Eastwood was voted number one again.<ref>[[#McGilligan|McGilligan]], p. 480</ref><ref name=mint/> A few months after film wrapped, Eastwood directed and co-starred alongside [[Kevin Costner]] in ''[[A Perfect World]]'' (also 1993). Set in the 1960s,<ref>[[#McGilligan|McGilligan]], p. 481</ref> Eastwood plays a Texas Ranger in pursuit of an escaped convict (Costner) who hits the road with a young boy ([[T.J. Lowther]]). Janet Maslin of ''The New York Times'' wrote that the film marked the highest point of Eastwood's directing career,<ref name="costner">{{cite news |last=Maslin |first=Janet |author-link=Janet Maslin |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/24/arts/reviews-film-a-perfect-world-where-destiny-is-sad-and-scars-never-heal.html |title=A Perfect World; Where Destiny Is Sad and Scars Never Heal |work=The New York Times |date=November 24, 1993 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706031852/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/24/arts/reviews-film-a-perfect-world-where-destiny-is-sad-and-scars-never-heal.html |archive-date=July 6, 2018 |url-status=dead |access-date=July 28, 2018}}</ref> and the film has since been cited as one of his most underrated directorial achievements.<ref name="wpostreview">{{cite news |last=Hinson |first=Hall |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/aperfectworldpg13hinson_a0a8b5.htm |title=A Perfect World |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=November 24, 1993 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091410/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/aperfectworldpg13hinson_a0a8b5.htm |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead  |access-date=August 25, 2017}}</ref><ref>[[#McGilligan|McGilligan]], pp. 485–86</ref>

At the [[1994 Cannes Film Festival]] Eastwood received France's [[Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]] medal,<ref name="McG491">[[#McGilligan|McGilligan]], p. 491</ref> and in 1995, he was awarded the [[Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award]] at the [[67th Academy Awards]].<ref name=Verlhac/> His next film appearance was in a cameo role as himself in the children's film ''[[Casper (film)|Casper]]'' (1995). He expanded his repertoire by playing opposite [[Meryl Streep]] in ''[[The Bridges of Madison County (film)|The Bridges of Madison County]]'' (also 1995). Based on the novel by [[Robert James Waller]],<ref>[[#McGilligan|McGilligan]], p. 492</ref> the film relates the story of Robert Kincaid (Eastwood), a photographer working for ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]'' who, while photographing historic covered bridges in Iowa, meets and has an affair with an Italian-born farm wife, Francesca (Streep). Despite the novel receiving unfavorable reviews, ''The Bridges of Madison County'' film was a commercial and critical success.<ref name="McG503">[[#McGilligan|McGilligan]], p. 503</ref> Roger Ebert wrote, "Streep and Eastwood weave a spell, and it is based on that particular knowledge of love and self that comes with middle age."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19950602/REVIEWS/506020301/1023 |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=The Bridges of Madison County |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=June 2, 1995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327232154/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19950602%2FREVIEWS%2F506020301%2F1023 |archive-date=March 27, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> The film was nominated for a Golden Globe for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama|Best Motion Picture – Drama]] and won a [[César Award]] in France for Best Foreign Film. Streep was also nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.

Eastwood directed and starred in the political thriller ''[[Absolute Power (film)|Absolute Power]]'' (1997), alongside [[Gene Hackman]] (with whom he had appeared in ''Unforgiven''). Eastwood played the role of a veteran thief who witnesses the Secret Service cover-up of a murder. The film received a mixed reception from critics.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/absolute_power/ |title=Absolute Power (1997) |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |date=June 2010 |access-date=January 13, 2011 |archive-date=April 17, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110417074706/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/absolute_power/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Later in 1997, Eastwood directed ''[[Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (film)|Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil]]'', based on the novel by [[John Berendt]] and starring [[John Cusack]], [[Kevin Spacey]], and [[Jude Law]]. The film met with a mixed critical response.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19971121/REVIEWS/711210303/1023 |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=November 21, 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090919040703/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19971121%2FREVIEWS%2F711210303%2F1023 |archive-date=September 19, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

{{blockquote|The roles that Eastwood has played, and the films that he has directed, cannot be disentangled from the nature of the American culture of the last quarter century, its fantasies and its realities.|source=Author Edward Gallafent, commenting on Eastwood's impact on film from the 1970s to 1990s<ref name=Gallafent/>}}

Eastwood directed and starred in ''[[True Crime (1999 film)|True Crime]]'' (1999). He plays Steve Everett, a journalist and recovering alcoholic, who has to cover the execution of murderer Frank Beechum (played by [[Isaiah Washington]]). ''True Crime'' received a mixed reception, with Janet Maslin of ''The New York Times'' writing, "his direction is galvanized by a sense of second chances and tragic misunderstandings, and by contrasting a larger sense of justice with the peculiar minutiae of crime. Perhaps he goes a shade too far in the latter direction, though."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9807EFD61731F93AA25750C0A96F958260 |last=Maslin |first=Janet |author-link=Janet Maslin |title=True Crime |work=The New York Times |date=March 19, 1999 |access-date=January 30, 2011 |archive-date=July 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725193151/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9807EFD61731F93AA25750C0A96F958260 |url-status=live }}</ref> The film was a box office failure, earning less than half its $55&nbsp;million budget and was Eastwood's worst-performing film of the 1990s aside from ''White Hunter Black Heart'', which had a limited release.<ref>[[#McGilligan|McGilligan]], p. 539</ref>

Eastwood directed and starred in ''[[Space Cowboys]]'' (2000) alongside [[Tommy Lee Jones]], Donald Sutherland and [[James Garner]]. Eastwood played one of a group of veteran ex-test pilots sent into space to repair an old Soviet satellite. The original music score was composed by Eastwood and [[Lennie Niehaus]]. ''Space Cowboys'' was critically well-received and holds a 79&nbsp;percent rating at Rotten Tomatoes,<ref>{{cite web |title=Space Cowboys (2000) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/space_cowboys/ |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |date=August 4, 2000 |access-date=February 16, 2011 |archive-date=November 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101111160556/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/space_cowboys/ |url-status=live }}</ref> although Roger Ebert wrote that the film was, "too secure within its traditional story structure to make much seem at risk".<ref>{{cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20000804/REVIEWS/8040306/1023 |title=Space Cowboys |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=August 4, 2000 |access-date=February 16, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612184025/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20000804%2FREVIEWS%2F8040306%2F1023 |archive-date=June 12, 2010}}</ref> The film grossed more than $90&nbsp;million in its United States release, more than Eastwood's two previous films combined.<ref name="Hughes152">[[#Hughes|Hughes]], p. 152</ref> Eastwood played an ex-[[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agent chasing a sadistic killer ([[Jeff Daniels]]) in the thriller ''[[Blood Work (film)|Blood Work]]'' (2002), loosely based on the 1998 [[Blood Work (novel)|novel of the same name]] by [[Michael Connelly]]. The film was a commercial failure, grossing just $26.2&nbsp;million on an estimated budget of $50&nbsp;million and received mixed reviews, with Rotten Tomatoes describing it as, "well-made but marred by lethargic pacing".<ref>{{cite web |title=Blood Work (2002) |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |date=August 9, 2002 |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blood_work |access-date=January 10, 2011 |archive-date=October 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017131223/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blood_work/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:AngelinaJolieClintEastwoodCroppedMay08.jpg|thumb|upright|With a pregnant Angelina Jolie on the red carpet of the [[2008 Cannes Film Festival]]]]

Eastwood directed and scored the crime drama ''[[Mystic River (film)|Mystic River]]'' (2003), a film dealing with themes of murder, vigilantism and sexual abuse and starring [[Sean Penn]], [[Kevin Bacon]], and [[Tim Robbins]]. The film was praised by critics and won two Academy Awards – Best Actor for Penn and Best Supporting Actor for Robbins – with Eastwood garnering nominations for Best Director and Best Picture.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=3552323 |title=Acclaim flows for 'Mystic River' at Oscars |date=March 2, 2004 |agency=[[Reuters]] |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121085501/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=3552323 |archive-date=January 21, 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=July 25, 2010}}</ref> The film grossed $90{{nbsp}}million domestically on a budget of $30{{nbsp}}million.<ref name="BOM2">{{cite web |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mysticriver.htm |title=Mystic River |work=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=September 4, 2009 |archive-date=June 1, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601150709/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mysticriver.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2003, Eastwood was named Best Director of the Year by the [[National Society of Film Critics]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Clint Eastwood |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/88601/Clint-Eastwood/awards |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219155815/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/88601/Clint-Eastwood/awards |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 19, 2013 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2013 |access-date=November 25, 2013}}</ref>

{{blockquote|Clint is a true artist in every respect. Despite his years of being at the top of his game and the legendary movies he has made, he always made us feel comfortable and valued on the set, treating us as equals.|source=Tim Robbins, on working with Eastwood.<ref name="Guardian 08" />}}

The following year, Eastwood found further critical acclaim with ''[[Million Dollar Baby]]''. The boxing drama won four Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress ([[Hilary Swank]]) and Best Supporting Actor ([[Morgan Freeman]]).<ref name=Roberts/> At age 74, Eastwood became the oldest of eighteen directors to have directed two or more Best Picture winners.<ref>{{cite web |title=Directing: Directors with 2 or More Directing Awards |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |url=http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/help/helpMain.jsp?helpContentURL=statistics/indexStats.html |access-date=January 10, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301005626/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/help/helpMain.jsp?helpContentURL=statistics%2FindexStats.html |archive-date=March 1, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=D'Angelo |first=Jennifer |title='Million Dollar Baby' Wins Best Picture Oscar |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/million-dollar-baby-wins-best-picture-oscar |publisher=[[Fox News Channel|Fox News]] |date=February 28, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110204065612/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,148881,00.html |archive-date=February 4, 2011 |url-status=live |access-date=January 11, 2011}}</ref> He also received a nomination for Best Actor, as well as a [[Grammy]] nomination for his score,<ref name="Eliot313">[[#Eliot|Eliot]], p. 313</ref> and won a Golden Globe for Best Director, which was presented to him by daughter Kathryn, who was [[Miss Golden Globe]] at the [[62nd Golden Globe Awards|2005 ceremony]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.goldenglobes.org/miss_golden_globe/ |title=HFPA – Miss/Mr. Golden Globe |publisher=Goldenglobes.org |access-date=March 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321182707/http://www.goldenglobes.org/miss_golden_globe/ |archive-date=March 21, 2012}}</ref> [[A. O. Scott]] of ''The New York Times'' lauded the film as a "masterpiece" and the best film of the year.<ref>{{cite news |last=Scott |first=A. O. |author-link=A. O. Scott |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/2004/12/15/movies/15baby.html |title=3 People Seduced by the Bloody Allure of the Ring |work=The New York Times |date=December 14, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530022938/http://movies.nytimes.com/2004/12/15/movies/15baby.html |archive-date=May 30, 2013 |url-status=dead |access-date=February 6, 2017}}</ref>

Eastwood directed two films about World War II's [[Battle of Iwo Jima]] released in 2006. The first, [[Flags of Our Fathers (film)|''Flags of Our Fathers'']], focused on the men who raised the American flag on top of [[Mount Suribachi]] and featured the film debut of Eastwood's son [[Scott Eastwood|Scott]]. This was followed by ''[[Letters from Iwo Jima]]'', which dealt with the tactics of the Japanese soldiers on the island and the letters they wrote home to family members. ''Letters from Iwo Jima'' was the first American film to depict a war issue completely from the view of an American enemy.<ref name="Eliot320">[[#Eliot|Eliot]], p. 320</ref> Both films received praise from critics and garnered several nominations at the [[79th Academy Awards]], including Best Director, Best Picture, and [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]] for ''Letters from Iwo Jima''. At the [[64th Golden Globe Awards]] Eastwood received nominations for Best Director in both films. ''Letters from Iwo Jima'' won the award for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/letters-iwo-jima |title=Winners & Nominees-Letters From Iwo Jima |publisher=Hollywood Foreign Press Association |access-date=February 20, 2018 |archive-date=February 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220153007/https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/letters-iwo-jima |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:ClintEastwoodCannesMay08.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=An older man is at the center of the image smiling and looking off to the right of the image. He is wearing a white jacket, and a tan shirt and tie. The number 61 can be seen behind him on a background wall.|Eastwood in 2008]]

Eastwood next directed ''[[Changeling (film)|Changeling]]'' (2008), based on a true story set in the late 1920s. [[Angelina Jolie]] stars as a woman reunited with her missing son only to realize he is an impostor.<ref name="Eliot327">[[#Eliot|Eliot]], p. 327</ref> After its release at several film festivals the film grossed over $110&nbsp;million, the majority of which came from foreign markets.<ref>{{cite news |first=Pamela |last=McClintock |url=https://variety.com/2009/film/box-office/clint-mints-overseas-box-office-1118001053/ |title=Clint mints overseas box office |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=March 10, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120044234/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118001053 |archive-date=January 20, 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=May 11, 2010}}</ref> The film was highly acclaimed, with Damon Wise of ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' describing ''Changeling'' as "flawless".<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.empireonline.com/features/cannes2008/Post.asp?id=145 |title=Clint Eastwood's Changeling Is The Best of the Festival So Far |first=Damon |last=Wise |journal=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] |date=May 20, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117034517/http://www.empireonline.com/features/cannes2008/Post.asp?id=145 |archive-date=November 17, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Todd McCarthy]] of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' described it as "emotionally powerful and stylistically sure-handed" and that the film's characters and social commentary were brought into the story with an "almost breathtaking deliberation".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=review&id=2531&reviewid=VE1117937210 |title='Changeling' review |first=Todd |last=McCarthy |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=May 20, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104153056/http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=review&id=2531&reviewid=VE1117937210 |archive-date=January 4, 2010 |url-status=dead |access-date=January 14, 2011}}</ref> For the film, Eastwood received nominations for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]] at the [[66th Golden Globe Awards]], [[BAFTA Award for Best Direction|Best Direction]] at the [[62nd British Academy Film Awards]] and director of the year from the London Film Critics' Circle.<ref name="Winners & Nominees-Clint Eastwood">{{cite web |url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/person/clint-eastwood |title=Winners & Nominees-Clint Eastwood |publisher=Hollywood Foreign Press Association |access-date=February 20, 2018 |archive-date=February 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220152839/https://www.goldenglobes.com/person/clint-eastwood |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thebafta.com/hot/62nd-british-academy-film-awards-winners-and-nominees.html |title=62nd British Academy Film Awards |publisher=British Academy Film Television Award (BAFTA) |access-date=February 20, 2018 |archive-date=January 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180124032816/http://www.thebafta.com/hot/62nd-british-academy-film-awards-winners-and-nominees.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Eastwood ended a four-year "self-imposed acting hiatus"<ref>{{cite news |last=Turan |first=Kenneth |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/reviews/la-et-torino12-2008dec12,0,2314630.story |title=Review: 'Gran Torino' |work=Los Angeles Times |date=December 12, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214235139/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/reviews/la-et-torino12-2008dec12,0,2314630.story |archive-date=December 14, 2008 |url-status=dead  |access-date=December 13, 2008}}</ref> by appearing in ''[[Gran Torino]]'' (also 2008), which he also directed, produced and partly scored with his son Kyle and [[Jamie Cullum]]. Biographer Marc Eliot called Eastwood's role "an amalgam of the Man with No Name, Dirty Harry, and [[William Munny]], here aged and cynical but willing and able to fight on whenever the need arose".<ref name="Eliot329">[[#Eliot|Eliot]], p. 329</ref> ''Gran Torino'' grossed almost $30&nbsp;million during its opening weekend release in January 2009, the highest of his career as an actor or director.<ref>{{cite news |agency=[[Reuters]] |title=Clint Eastwood leads box office with 'Gran Torino' |url=https://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/01/11/afx5905250.html |date=January 11, 2009 |work=[[Forbes]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115071626/http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/01/11/afx5905250.html |archive-date=January 15, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> ''Gran Torino'' eventually grossed over $268&nbsp;million in theaters worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of Eastwood's career so far (without adjustment for inflation).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Actor&id=clinteastwood.htm&sort=gross&order=DESC&p=.htm |title=Box Office Mojo – Clint Eastwood |publisher=imdb.com |access-date=February 20, 2018 |archive-date=February 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220212234/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Actor&id=clinteastwood.htm&sort=gross&order=DESC&p=.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Eastwood's 30th directorial outing came with ''[[Invictus (film)|Invictus]]'' (2009), a film based on the story of the [[South Africa national rugby union team|South African team]] at the [[1995 Rugby World Cup]] with [[Morgan Freeman]] as [[Nelson Mandela]], [[Matt Damon]] as rugby team captain [[François Pienaar]], and [[Grant L. Roberts]] as [[Ruben Kruger]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Keller |first=Bill |author-link=Bill Keller |title=Entering the Scrum |date=August 15, 2008 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/books/review/Keller-t.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602033505/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/books/review/Keller-t.html |archive-date=June 2, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> The film was met with generally positive reviews; Roger Ebert gave it three and a half stars and described it as a "very good film{{nbsp}}... with moments evoking great emotion",<ref>{{cite news |title=Invictus |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091209/REVIEWS/912099994 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=December 9, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091213113653/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20091209%2FREVIEWS%2F912099994 |archive-date=December 13, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> while ''Variety''{{'s}} Todd McCarthy wrote, "Inspirational on the face of it, Clint Eastwood's film has a predictable trajectory, but every scene brims with surprising details that accumulate into a rich fabric of history, cultural impressions and emotion."<ref>{{cite news |title=Invictus |url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117941681.html |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |last=McCarthy |first=Todd |date=November 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116094329/http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117941681/?refCatId=31 |archive-date=January 16, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> For the film, Eastwood was nominated for Best Director at the [[67th Golden Globe Awards]].<ref name="Winners & Nominees-Clint Eastwood" />