The Old Man & the Gun

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source: The Old Man & the Gun

Watching Robert Redford breeze through The Old Man and the Gun, I am reminded that a minimalist drama like this can serve one purpose only if it wants: See an 82-year-old movie star gracefully perform again, with dignity. However, this film offers more in its smallness: seasoned actors like Sissy Spacek, Danny Glover, and Tom Waits provide momentary joy beyond Redford's sustaining charisma. Despite the clichéd bank robbery motif, based on the real-life career of serial robber Forrest Tucker, his eighty robberies and 16 prison escapes reveal not a mean man but rather a charmer who robs because it makes him smile and who helps others when he doesn't have to. Old Man hints at deeper emotional possibilities when it's discovered that his daughter, played by Elizabeth Moss, is unknown to him: Jewel (Sissy Spacek): "Do you have any children?" Forrest Tucker: "I hope not." The film likes to keep these moments underwritten to suggest the depth as a richness he hasn't ignored but prefers to keep at bay. That spareness of emotion, dialogue, and sustained discourse adds to the mystery of a man who floats above daily intercourse to pursue a passion, albeit robbery. Redford shuffles a bit like an old man, but he teases us with the wisdom he holds behind that killer smile and a youthful insouciance that makes him ageless. You will not be revisiting the wisecracking of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid or the sophistication of The Sting; you will get a fun heist film featuring a star who evidences the reason he has 78 entries in his filmography and originated a seminal cultural institution, The Sundance Institute. A bit like the underplaying but still prolific and passionate Forrest Tucker. It's infectious: "I've been thinking about a bank robbery my whole life." Ryan Gosling

In general, a little bit of cute goes a long way. This movie sets new records for piling cuteness on top of cuteness. The script, the acting and the direction are also focused on trying to be cute and charming. Nothing is organic or believable, and it quickly becomes irritating, and at times even nauseating. I can only guess they misunderstood the heist genre, and tried to graft tropes from teen romances into spots they didn't belong.

A surprisingly bad movie with poor photography, mumbled dialog, an empty script. Redford and Spacek begin with old-age make-up slopped-on by the ton. Yet later, after years had passed, they appear much younger with much less goo on their faces. Much of the dialog (such as it is) is drowned out (intentionally) by the background music. A few snickers here and there. Suspense is undercut over and over. We saw this on $5 Tuesday just not worth it. Remembering how downright s-xy Sissy looked just 45 years ago. Hmmm! Same here!

Too many scenes of Robert Redford walking into banks. Not enough of a story line based on character development. It would be sad if this was Redford final work.

Robert Redford headlines this new dramedy from David Lowery (whose last film, "A Ghost Story," I found riveting,) by playing an elderly bank robber who has escaped from prison over a dozen times, and is looking to find love with a woman (Sissy Spacek) while being investigated by law enforcement. The film's old-fashioned color palette, low-key charms, and leisurely pacing feel like a throwback to classic filmmaking in a manner almost never seen in today's modern films, even independent ones. It's impossible not to smile at Redford and Spacek's charisma, and the simple score is charming and lovely. The film certainly has its fair share of amusing and entertaining moments, many of which involve bank robbery attempts and prison escapes. That said, the movie has some noticeable problems with its narrative. The main problem with the film's story is not that it is contrived (it can be, but it is not too difficult for the viewer to suspend disbelief while watching this film.) Rather, it is that the film can be repetitive. The film's use of montages and similar plot devices (like juxtapositions of bank robbery scenes followed by subsequent juxtapositions of scenes showing the personal lives of major characters) get too repetitive, so much that it is somewhat difficult to feel impacted by their stylistic role in the narrative. For a movie that only lasts a fleeting 93 minutes, the film oddly feels a bit long as well. These narrative issues are (unfortunately) very structural in terms of how they affect the film as a whole, which can be judged by the viewer against the film's positive elements (the performances, simple aesthetics, and tone.) Recommended for theatrical viewing to fans of the cast; all others should probably wait to rent it. 6.5/10

93 minutes of a close-up of wrinkled Robert Redford might be a better title. No drama, suspense, no comedy. A vanity film? More like one long worship of an actor, not acting. Sissy Spacek was cute. Ben Affleck was a stumbling sonambulist. Is he acting or is that him? Was there a reason for the scene of him putting air in a flat tire? Boor-ing! The whole movie. All four of use were relieved when it ended. Trailer:movie quality ratio- 10 to 1. Just watch the trailer and spare yourself.