The Old Man & The Gun (12A.)
Directed by David Lowery.
Starring Robert Redford, Casey Affleck, Sissy Spacek, Tom Waits, Danny Glover and Tika Sumpter. 93 mins.
It's taken more than 50 years and just over forty films as a leading man for Robert Redford to let himself go just a little bit. I'm not suggesting he wasn't a great movie star but there was always a certain guardedness to him. He was always Robert Redford and the embodiment of what Robert Redford should stand for. Here, in what he has said is his final acting role, he plays a geriatric gentleman bank robber who held up facilities with little more than a smile and a bit of charm, and he goes about it like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders.
Doing something for the last time must be incredibly freeing but the presence of Tom Waits must've gone a long way to loosening him up. Along with Glover, Waits works with Redford in what is called the Over The Hill Gang and their scenes together have a distinct magic. There's a moment when they are sitting around yakking and Waits throws out a typically random adlib and you can see a big smile come across Redford face. He's completely thrown by it, but he having too much fun to care.
Hollywood has been circling around the true story of Forrest Tucker, a career criminal who escaped from prison 16 times including breaking out of San Quentin in a self-made kayak and was still robbing banks when he was 79, for some time. (In his book What Lie Did I Tell, William Goldman, writer of Redford's defining hits Butch Cassiday and All The President's Men, devoted a section to a discussion of how to adapt it.) Writer/ director Lowery disregards most of the juicy tales and concentrates on his last few years where he has him being pursued by droopy draws detective Affleck.
Lowery seems to have shot the film on location in 70s cinema, (Redford still has his 70s hair) which is odd as he has set it in the 80s. Lowery's direction is inventive and bold, but also audience-friendly and entertaining. Four films in and he's proving to be a real talent. Most directors want to assert their own style or brand to their film making, but each of his films have had their own distinct look. You couldn't tell this was the work of the man who made Ain't Them Bodies Saints or Pete's Dragon.
After a vigorous initial burst the film's energy levels droop in the second half, but that happens as you get older. Redford seduces Spacek during the get away from a robbery and their early scenes have a real crackle but as the film goes on their get-togethers become a bit of a drag. The film starts out like it might be a classic but it gradually becomes clear that the film is too in love with its protagonist to really take off. It's a rather cosy celebration of an American reprobate but still very entertaining and a very decent way for Redford to take his leave of us.
Other Redford reviews:
All Is Lost
Three Days Of The Condor
Lions for Lambs
Truth
The Company You Keep
Directed by David Lowery.
Starring Robert Redford, Casey Affleck, Sissy Spacek, Tom Waits, Danny Glover and Tika Sumpter. 93 mins.
It's taken more than 50 years and just over forty films as a leading man for Robert Redford to let himself go just a little bit. I'm not suggesting he wasn't a great movie star but there was always a certain guardedness to him. He was always Robert Redford and the embodiment of what Robert Redford should stand for. Here, in what he has said is his final acting role, he plays a geriatric gentleman bank robber who held up facilities with little more than a smile and a bit of charm, and he goes about it like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders.
Doing something for the last time must be incredibly freeing but the presence of Tom Waits must've gone a long way to loosening him up. Along with Glover, Waits works with Redford in what is called the Over The Hill Gang and their scenes together have a distinct magic. There's a moment when they are sitting around yakking and Waits throws out a typically random adlib and you can see a big smile come across Redford face. He's completely thrown by it, but he having too much fun to care.
Hollywood has been circling around the true story of Forrest Tucker, a career criminal who escaped from prison 16 times including breaking out of San Quentin in a self-made kayak and was still robbing banks when he was 79, for some time. (In his book What Lie Did I Tell, William Goldman, writer of Redford's defining hits Butch Cassiday and All The President's Men, devoted a section to a discussion of how to adapt it.) Writer/ director Lowery disregards most of the juicy tales and concentrates on his last few years where he has him being pursued by droopy draws detective Affleck.
Lowery seems to have shot the film on location in 70s cinema, (Redford still has his 70s hair) which is odd as he has set it in the 80s. Lowery's direction is inventive and bold, but also audience-friendly and entertaining. Four films in and he's proving to be a real talent. Most directors want to assert their own style or brand to their film making, but each of his films have had their own distinct look. You couldn't tell this was the work of the man who made Ain't Them Bodies Saints or Pete's Dragon.
After a vigorous initial burst the film's energy levels droop in the second half, but that happens as you get older. Redford seduces Spacek during the get away from a robbery and their early scenes have a real crackle but as the film goes on their get-togethers become a bit of a drag. The film starts out like it might be a classic but it gradually becomes clear that the film is too in love with its protagonist to really take off. It's a rather cosy celebration of an American reprobate but still very entertaining and a very decent way for Redford to take his leave of us.
Other Redford reviews:
All Is Lost
Three Days Of The Condor
Lions for Lambs
Truth
The Company You Keep
