THE OLD MAN & THE GUN – Review

As a seasoned moviegoer (as I trust you are also), when I saw these five words on this new movie’s poster (and later in the actual film’s first frames) alarms went off in my head (not unlike “Spidey-sense”): “This story is mostly true”. First off, many films “inspired by true events”, another warning label, aren’t that compelling and often seem better suited for the small screen. Then there’s that pesky “mostly”, which indicates a certain forced whimsey, maybe even preciousness. Ah, but not to worry. After a few seconds, we spot a most familiar face. Really familiar, due to his still commanding star power, barely dimmed after fifty plus years as a movie leading man (for a couple of decades he truly personified the glitz and glamor of Hollywood). Now many strands of his golden locks have gone grey, and his jaunty clip has slowed a bit. During his publicity stint for this flick, he’s announced that it will be his last film work in front of the cameras (he is an Oscar-winning director, too). Somewhat appropriately the title of his “swan song” is THE OLD MAN & THE GUN.

Indeed, seconds after the above-mentioned preface fades, the story takes us to a small bank at the center of a dusty, tiny Texas town circa 1981. A dapper gentleman (three-piece suit, tie, fedora) enters. Cut to a bank teller hurriedly filling a leather case with cash, then handing it to…let’s call him FT (Robert Redford), in order not to spoil a moniker that will tickle classic movie and TV fans. FT is wearing glasses, a fake bushy mustache, and has an ear piece (a hearing aid, perhaps) with a wire leading down into a coat pocket. As he gets in his car, we learn that the device is attached to a tiny police scanner. FT drives down a dingy alley, switches cars, and speeds to the highway. Ah, the getaway can wait a bit, as FT spots a “damsel in distress”. Actually, it’s a woman having truck trouble. Since he can’t fix the engine problem, FT gives the lady, a widow named Jewel (Sissy Spacek), a lift to a garage. Over pie and coffee at a diner, the two flirt and eventually exchange numbers. Meanwhile, in a nearby town, police detective John Hunt (Casey Affleck) is feeling “burnt out” from “cleaning up messes”. Hunt (clever, eh) has a gorgeous wife and two adorable kids, but he’s in a funk. One morning, on the way to drop the kids of at school, he drops in at his local bank, just minutes after FT has entered. After FT departs, the bank manager announces the robbery and detains the patrons. When his fellow officers arrive, Hunt joins the investigation with a suddenly renewed vigor. Hunt’s main mission is to arrest the “gentleman” robber. Well, it seems that FT has decided to go after bigger banks in cities, so he meets up with his partners, Teddy (Danny Glover) and Waller (Tom Waits). Together they’re plotting the big score. And during their free moments, FT is spending lots of time with Jewel at her tranquil farm and ranch. Could this blossoming romance lead to the other dreaded “r-word”, retirement for FT? Or will Detective Hunt truck him down before the big (perhaps final) bank job?

As you may have guessed, this film is a showcase for the still engaging Mr. Reford. He slips into the title role as if he were easing into a pair of slightly-worn cowboy boots. And even though eighty or so years are deeply etched in that face, RR truly make the being “craggy” attractive. It helps that he wratches up his charm meter well past “11”. He doesn’t resort to big theatrics (no sobbing or ranting), rather he lets his laid-back, easy-going attitude pull us in. Sure he brandishes a weapon on his “jibs”, but we, like the many bank employees, are pretty sure that he’s not going to use it. Still, Redford shows us FT’s conflict as he wonders if he can give up his old “life” to spend his last years, with his likely last love. Truly tough choice since that love is the wonderful Ms. Spacek, who has been busy on TV but much missed on the big screen (at least in a major role). She and Redford engage in a very mature, but still frothy romantic dance. You can feel the heat, from their first meal as they observe and question, prod and verbally poke, across that dingy diner table. They’re a terrific team, as is Redford and Affleck, minus the flirty chemistry and screen time. John Hunt seems barely alive, straining to keep his eyes open while strolling those the petty crime questioning. When FT comes into his orbit, the sleepy cop is jolted awake, dashing home with boxes of evidence and reports, eager to do something important once more. And like FT, he’s inspired rather than conflicted, by his own love mate, the radiant Tika Sumpter as encouraging, no-nonsense Maureen Hunt. Speaking of partners with chemistry, some of the film’s most entertaining scenes are those that with FT’s “guys” (and the ads make it look like he’s a “solo act”). Glover and Waits are “grumpy old men” who bicker and taunt like a long-time married couple but stick together particularly when the news media refers to them as the “over the hill gang”. These crooks have pride, ya’ know?

David Lowery directs his own screenplay (based on the New Yorker article by Davis Grann) with a sure steady hand, letting the dialogue and crime scenes move with a leisurely pace. It’s unhurried, but hardly dull, though an extra ten or fifteen minutes might have stretched the story too thin. It’s quite a change from the strange, dreamy previous two flicks with Affleck (AIN’T THEM BODIES SAINTS and A GHOST STORY) or his previous work with Redford on the dreary remake of PETE’S DRAGON. There are a couple of clever montages, one with robbery victims nearly telling the same story, and later when FT relates many previous clashes with “John Law” (keen-eyed viewers will spy a vintage bit of film). Late in the film, there’s an effective confrontation scene smartly staged in what seems to be the longest W.C. ever. And though it’s said to be a “swan song”, this is more of a celebration of the enduring Redford. He’s still got “it” (as in that screen something going way back to Clara Bow and others), but doesn’t want to be the last one to leave the “party”. As film finales go, THE OLD MAN & THE GUN is a smooth sweet ride into the sunset for the Sundance Kid.

4 Out of 5

THE OLD MAN & THE GUN opens everywhere and screens exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas