Just Getting Started

Really disappointed based on the potential of this movie with the cast assembled. So many great actors put to waste in this this completely unfunny agonizing film. Didn't even seem like any of the actors wanted to be there as they forced their way through their performances. Script was awful with barely a laugh throughout.

An excellent cast who may have had nothing better to do than pay the bills. There are no laugh out loud moments, It seems to centre on older men being as competitive as young men, boys will be boys. But the whole plot and comic moments are so lame it never gets above mediocre. Not terrible, but not really worth watching.

. . . is a pure Geezerpaloosa, through and through. For those folks into this sort of thing (mostly the geriatric crowd born in the 1800s and 1900s), JUST GETTING STARTED could just as easily be tagged as "Hope springs Eternal." Set and filmed in a Palm Springs Old Fogey Compound where no one wears Depends and Ancient Farts only croak having sex, JUST GETTING STARTED comes off as a Baby Boomer Fantasy where Millennials only exist as Go-Fers to their Extreme Elders, or ineffectual codger assassins. No one has a care in their head that Red Commie KGB Chief Vlad "The Mad Russian" Putin and his Pedophiliac Repug Party Henchpeople are busy pulling out from under them the rugs of Social Security, Medicare, Government-insured Pensions, Bank Accounts, and Annuities as they "party" in Slow So-Slow Motion. One gets the sense that when the Kremlin sends in the Caterpillars to bulldoze them into ditches, these giddily giggling geezers will be too far gone to even notice.

'JUST GETTING STARTED': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five) An action-comedy buddy flick from writer/director Ron Shelton, who's previously helmed such popular sports-comedies as 'BULL DURHAM','WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP' & 'TIN CUP' (as well as the action-comedy buddy flick 'HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE'). The film stars Morgan Freeman and Tommy Lee Jones as an ex-mob lawyer, and an ex-FBI agent, that have to overcome their personal feud in order to survive a mafia hit at their retirement home. The movie also costars Rene Russo, Joe Pantoliano, George Wallace, Jane Seymour and the late Glenne Headly (in one of her final film performances). It's received mostly negative reviews from critics, and it's also underperformed at the Box Office so far as well. I found it to be very mildly amusing, at times, but it's also mostly just a waste of time. Duke Diver (Freeman) is the most popular resident at villa Capri, a retirement home which he also helps run. That is until a new guest, named Leo (Jones), shows up. Leo rivals Duke at everything he's known for there, and the two engage in a bitter rivalry (even over women). That is until a mob hitman attempts to kill Diver, and the two must then put aside their dispute in order to survive. I'll admit Freeman and Jones are both entertaining to watch, but that's only because they're such good actors. The duo is so much better than the material they're given here, and Ron Shelton has delivered much better material than this in the past. Maybe it's because they're all getting so old, but I know that Jones and Freeman can still do much better than this. They just need to learn to skip bad film roles.

Duke is the manager of a luxury Palm Springs retirement resort, Villa Capri. It's Christmas in the desert, and Duke's the big man on campus, until charming former military man Leo arrives and threatens to become the new alpha male. When regional director Suzie shows up to look into some improper finances, both men turn on the charm to assert their status as top dog. But what starts as a friendly rivalry, turns serious when men from Duke's past come back to haunt him, and kidnap Suzie in the process. Putting their rivalry aside, Duke and Leo come together to rescue Suzie, stop whoever is trying to kill them....... Twenty years ago, this would have been a more prolific film, everyone who is in it could have easily had their roles, and more than likely, it would have had more work put into the writing and ultimately been something a little more edgier than it's finished product. There's no need to waffle on about the cast, they are all brilliant in their own right, but here, they are clearly on autopilot to pick up an easy pay check, and to enjoy a well earned holiday. Jones plays every character he ever has in a comedy, you can tell this because he spends the majority of the film in a silly hat and sunglasses, Freeman plays the dude with swagger, and Russo is nothing more than a plot point to get the two male leads to have a little banter. Shelton has made some wonderful films in his career, but of late, he's gone way off track, and this has to be one of his worst efforts. It's never funny, the action is as lethargic as it's cast, and it's biggest problem is that it's too laid back for its own good, relient on the cast and the one sheet to draw in the grey pound. Ironically, it never gets started, its twenty years too late, and you know when the most exciting part of a film consists of a fat man sitting on a tub with a snake in it, there's little to save this bomb.

Was this a great film, no, but it was totally enjoyable to watch as I knew it had to be considering the cast. Not just Jones & Freeman, but Jane Seymour, George Wallace, Joe Pantoliano, & Glenne Headly in her final film. Sure it's a play on a plot that's been done before with a few twists, but with different players always different. If you want an hour & half of entertainment and aren't predisposed to think old folks are has beens, check it out.

I read the reviews, but first I need to say that this is not my kind of movie. I ended up seeing it out of edition work. That being said, I found it quite nice and accommodating, for it is about old age and Christmas, and how things have a different feature when you know what is coming - fast in your case if you are at the end of your road. Great actors and actresses who are finally there - too old to rock'n'roll, too young to die - and that went on this movie for the pleasure of still be riding. If you expected anything different or more of it, the problem is yours - either you're not seasoned yet to appreciate the irony or just too out of your métier.

I don't care what anyone else says it's fun and entertaining fluff. It's not meant to be serious so just enjoy it. By the way, I want to go live there, yes sir I do...

At first glance, it seems as if "Just Getting Started" is going to resemble one of the old Bob Hope and Bing Crosby collaborations from decades ago-two footloose con men ambling along in search of a life of ease, avoiding responsibility and matrimonial entanglements by relying largely on their wits and their engaging personalities. But before you start getting excited by a sense of nostalgia, you might want to remember that the Hope and Crosby comedies coasted along on the most threadbare of plots, leaning instead on the rapport between the two stars and their often unscripted and improvised dialogue, which mostly consisted of in-jokes and references to each other's entertainment personas. And that's one of the many problems of "Just Getting Started"-unlike Hope and Crosby, stars Morgan Freeman and Tommy Lee Jones have absolutely no chemistry in their scenes together. While the dialogue in the picture might seem spontaneous and unscripted, it's not-it just isn't funny. And as anyone knows who's seen either Jones or Freeman appearing on a television talk show, without a script in his hands neither actor has a great deal of personality to contribute to the party. "Just Getting Started" has no discernible plot-there's barely even a pulse. As a result, the picture after a while begins to resemble one long and pointless comedy sketch rejected by some obscure television variety show from the 1970s. Worse, Freeman and Jones often mutter and mumble their lines inaudibly, under their breath, as if they're embarrassed. They have reason to be-writer and director Ron Shelton has created for the two aging stars a script which meanders all over the screen. The story seems to travel in one direction for a few minutes, then wanders off in another direction, and then repeats the pattern again and again until we don't really know what the picture's about. Is it a mob comedy? A satire? Rene Russo, cast in the role Dorothy Lamour would've played in a Hope and Crosby comedy, at least gives the movie her best effort-in marked contrast to Jones and Freeman, Russo seems to be pointedly enunciating her lines, but in the process she also unfortunately removes every dramatic nuance or hint of intentional humor. And Jane Seymour in a guest-star role literally phones in her performance-she has no scenes with any of the other actors, appearing almost unrecognized in elaborate wigs and slinky metallic outfits, shrieking with a Noo Yawk accent into a gold telephone. Dumped into 2146 theaters nationwide, "Just Getting Started" has earned a 9% approval rating from the critics on the Rotten Tomatoes website, and a score of 25 out of 100 on Metacritic, signaling generally unfavorable reviews. The more charitable audiences polled by CinemaScore assign the picture a C grade. "Just Getting Started" is a mess. Skip this one entirely, and save your money to buy extra Christmas gifts.

"Just Getting Started" explores the interactions of the 'cowboy' Leo (Tommy Lee Jones), the 'playboy' Duke (Morgan Freeman) and the 'career woman' Suzie (Rene Russo) as they find themselves in the luxury resort community Villa Capri. Leo acts like he owns the place although it's Duke's official fief. Suzie is a bit standoffish in her mysterious work role. The plot develops slowly at first while the movie gets started. Alfred Hitchcock employed the term MacGuffin to refer to a device introduced to move the plot along although of itself it is not significant to said plot, or at least not fully explained. Here the MacGuffin is what a student of the Proverbs might term a recurring tornado: ref. (Prov. 10:25) "As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation" The whirlwind is like the New Jersey mob in its devastation, gone once the law puts it out of business, using a good citizen's testimony, which qualifies him for the witness protection program where he can peacefully put down roots. Leo is such a one prospering in his adopted surroundings while keeping a low exterior profile. Alas for a T.V. clip that blows his cover ("The s.o.b. is in Palm Springs!") His discovery leads to complications ("They found me.") The action is set during the few days leading up to Christmas. The music comes in fits and starts, with an emphasis occurring on the line: "God and sinners reconciled." Duke's sinful life consists of: "Sex, booze, and golf"--golf like many other of Duke's games includes wagers, gambling. The movie carefully avoids any religious conversion, but Duke's competition with well-heeled Leo leaves him no time for sex. World-wise Leo in fact takes on the role of guardian angel helping him avoid sin and more pragmatic dangers. Suzie whose "final marriage is my job" is sexless like the Virgin Mary, and she will exert a restraining, sobering influence on the Duke. As is pointed out, the wise men couldn't have got to Bethlehem without those camels, so could not the Christ child have arrived without Mary. Duke to win a combination play against Leo makes his final move where "his knees touched the floor." That's a common enough occurrence of those who pray, although here the movie just imitates aspects of the religious without actually going there. The movie was shot on location in New Mexico. It includes a guest appearance of and performance by Johnny Mathis. We get great comedic acting, enough suspense to keep us alert, a modicum of background Christmassy emblems (without forcing religion), and some genuine shoot-'em-up action. It's a well done flick and should provide an alternative to the sorry Christmas fare that gets overly saccharine.