The Old Man & the Gun

Score:  A-

Directed by David Lowery
Starring Robert Redford, Sissy Spacek, Casey Affleck
Running time: 93 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Robert Redford steps in front of the camera one last time in this crime adventure, co-starring Sissy Spacek and Casey Affleck.  The actors are all great, of course, and the premise is more than a little nod to Redford's career.  But the filmmakers get the chance to present a fully developed - and balanced - story here, both the highs and the lows, and that makes it a worthy tribute.  Highly recommended.


Forrest Tucker (Redford), a genial older man, enters a bank in the early 1980s, and calmly walks back out with quite a bit of money that isn't his.  As he listens via an earpiece to the police frantically but belatedly spring into action, he begins to cruise out of town when he notices a woman broken down by the side of the road.  Forrest then takes Jewel (Spacek) to a local diner, and they find themselves mutually charmed.  Forrest continues seeing her, while also "touring" a number of other states to visit their banks.  Detective John Hunt (Affleck) senses something deeper going on than just an average bank robbery in his town.  He begins to discover the trail of robberies by an unassuming - even gentlemanly - criminal, and takes it on as a personal challenge.  Still, as determined as Hunt is to catch him, Forrest's largest obstacle to freedom may be his own past.

The Old Man & the Gun has a small cast, choosing to focus intently on its legendary leading man.  Robert Redford has said this will be the final role in his long and celebrated acting career, and the role itself is a salute to his previous work.  He clearly relishes this final opportunity to play a roguishly charming outlaw, someone who seems so genuinely nice and decent that it's no surprise that the various bank employees can't help but give him their money.  The camera lingers on Redford throughout the film, almost asking the audience to see in his lined but defiant face the earlier days and journeys that brought this actor/character to his final adventure.  Sissy Spacek does a great job as well, as his romantic interest, Jewel.  Her role - and performance - is essential in holding the film back from flying off into sentimental hero worship.  While the veteran actors have an easy rapport and banter in a realistic, almost improvised manner, their characters are also different enough that there remains an invisible yet distinct barrier between them, too.  In the third significant role, Casey Affleck also does fine work as the detective on the case.  The film wisely does not spend too much time on him, but does give him enough to show the complexity of his work-home life, and his awakening from a professional stupor.  Not flashy, intense, or even portrayed as the "good guy", he brings more groundedness via the law-and-order inevitability he represents.

The Old Man & the Gun succeeds as both a restrained yet fun crime comedy as well as a touching and well-executed send off for one of Hollywood's most famous actors of all time.  Based loosely on a true story, the film wisely does not really focus too much on the ostensible main action, the brazen robberies of banks by an old man (and his two equally-elderly conspirators).  We do get to see several of the crimes, which are really pretty simple and emphasize the irresistible charm that Redford commands, and the transition of the hapless managers and tellers from customer service to incredulity as reality dawns on them.  However, it's the moments around these crimes that get more emphasis.  Forrest's burgeoning relationship with Jewel is the center of this, as you watch him debate whether he can continue this while carrying on as usual, or whether this is his opportunity to finally get out of the "game".  While this all lends a fun, Hollywood-fantasy aspect to the film, it is smartly countered with the grim elements of reality, too.  Detective Hunt's investigation, while amusing at times as the "victims" are interrogated, shows the steady march to justice.  And it becomes more and more clear, to Forrest and the audience, that he really can't have it both ways.  Trying to do so gets people hurt, Forrest himself included, and even his aura of invincibility and pleasantness drops at times.  It is this balanced approach that makes the film a worthy capstone to Redford's career.  If there were no challenges, or Forrest forever escaped the law, it would be a superficial and insincere ending for him. But the film waits until near the end, wisely, to explore Forrest's life of crime - and incarceration - using (subtle) snapshots from previous moment's in Redford's career to illustrate the journey in a way possible only for this film and this actor.

***

The Old Man & the Gun has a premise that almost screams for awards attention - but its success not only validates that attention, it shows a triumph of walking a sneakily perilous tight rope.  Redford could easily, I'm sure, have taken complete control of this film, and used it to glorify himself, results on the film itself be damned.  But I get the strong impression that he stepped back and allowed the filmmakers to create and enact their own overall vision for the film - which, of course, included a certain honoring of the actor himself, but which came about more naturally this way.  This allowed also for other real characters to develop around him - Spacek and Affleck's characters, specifically, are no mere stereotyped stand-ins.  Finally, it all wraps up in a tidy 90 minutes or so, not overstaying its welcome.  Highly recommended, particularly of course for Redford fans.



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