The Old Man and The Gun * * 1/2
The last film David Lowery gave us was A Ghost Story, which I thought was an audacious but seductive drama. It starred Casey Affleck as the Ghost. It had a slow meditative atmosphere which suited the story well. Unfortunately the same spirit (or lack of spirit ) does not work so well for this film.
This is one of the most unexciting heist movie I have ever seen. It feels like it's half asleep (I think the audience were too by the end of it).
Some say this might be Robert Redford's last film. I hope not, because he deserves to go out on a higher note than this.
Set in the early 1980's, it's the "somewhat true" story of Forrest Tucker, a serial bank robber. We meet Forrest when he is in his seventies. At this stage he has linked up with a couple of other old school bank robbers - cameos from Tom Waits and Danny Glover - so most of his heists are done as a team.
Forrest Tucker is what you might call a gentleman bank robber. As he walks into a bank wearing his suit and tie and carrying his large briefcase he looks like a business man about to make a deposit. He speaks quietly and gently to the staff telling them ,this is a robbery, he has a gun, and they should co-operate, as he doesn't want to hurt anyone.
On the run from one robbery he meets Jewel (Sissy Spacek), a woman he decides he'd like to see more of. "I'm a salesman", he tells her in the beginning. By the time she learns of his true profession she's only seen his good side and she is in love with him.
Meanwhile we follow Detective John Hunt (Casey Affleck) who might still be playing the Ghost again for the amount of life he puts into his performance. Showing his home life we are given the most contrived and unconvincing portrait of a marriage. He's also the most sleepy, lackadaisical, uninspiring cop you'll ever meet. He hasn't even got the energy to open his mouth to speak clearly, let alone keep up with an old man, which might sound amusing, but actually he just comes across as irritatingly dopey.
This is one of the most unexciting heist movie I have ever seen. It feels like it's half asleep (I think the audience were too by the end of it).
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| This is a robbery. You can take your time, everyone else is. |
Forrest Tucker is what you might call a gentleman bank robber. As he walks into a bank wearing his suit and tie and carrying his large briefcase he looks like a business man about to make a deposit. He speaks quietly and gently to the staff telling them ,this is a robbery, he has a gun, and they should co-operate, as he doesn't want to hurt anyone.
On the run from one robbery he meets Jewel (Sissy Spacek), a woman he decides he'd like to see more of. "I'm a salesman", he tells her in the beginning. By the time she learns of his true profession she's only seen his good side and she is in love with him.
Meanwhile we follow Detective John Hunt (Casey Affleck) who might still be playing the Ghost again for the amount of life he puts into his performance. Showing his home life we are given the most contrived and unconvincing portrait of a marriage. He's also the most sleepy, lackadaisical, uninspiring cop you'll ever meet. He hasn't even got the energy to open his mouth to speak clearly, let alone keep up with an old man, which might sound amusing, but actually he just comes across as irritatingly dopey.
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