Old Man and The Gun (2018)
A charmingly told tale packed with some solid performances and cameos
I have never seen a more complete career than that of Robert Redford’s. Starting out as a recovering alcoholic to travelling Europe to paint, he finally started his career as an actor in the 50s. After climbing the pinnacles of broadway, he went on to work in a lot of acclaimed TV shows. After his Broadway and TV success, he was cast in larger roles in movies as well. He found success very easily and got to work with the likes of Natalie Wood and Marlon Brando. With a stroke of luck and some paranoia of getting typecast, he turned down roles in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Graduate only to go on and star in one of my all time favourites — Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. He was also part of All the President’s Men, another landmark film for him. He moved into direction soon and just with his first film Ordinary People, he won the Oscar for the Best Director. He also founded the Sundance Film Festival. He continued to have a successful career from there on. And it is only fitting that final film is about a robber who won’t quit.
Old Man & the Gun tells the story of a compulsive real-life bank robber Forrest Tucker, who escaped from prison 16 times over the course of his life. It stars Rob Redford as Forrest Tucker, Casey Affleck as John Hunt , the lead investigator and Sissy Spacek as Forrest’s love interest in the last stages of his career. The film also features cameos from Tom Waits, Danny Glover and Elisabeth Moss. The story is simple and straightforward, it is about a man who is passionate about his work , just for the joy it and nothing else. The director chooses an exaggeration in the form of a bank robber who doesn’t care about money to justify this. The timeline is set to 1981, when Forrest is robbing a series of banks and has been doing that since he was a teenager. He has a team now, played here by Danny Glover and Tom Waits, who are called the “Over the Hill Gang” . He never carries a loaded gun, and has a very personal style robbing banks, always with a smile on his face. During a getaway from a bank heist, he meets a widowed Jewel, played by Sissy Spacek. Initially using her merely as a prop, he later on develops a romantic spark with her, and keeps meeting her whenever he is in town for “work”. Even though Jewel is knows Tucker’s disposition, she mysteriously remains ignorant until the final scene. Nonetheless, the relationship between the both is distinctively charming throughout the film. Law enforcement is always after him, and film tracks John Hunt (Casey Affleck) who takes special interest in Forrest as his robbing turn the eyes of national media. A father with two kids struggling to adapt to a comfortable and boring life, he waits for the opportunity to have some excitement in his life. The whole thing is as much a game for him as it is for Forrest. The rest of plot is how John figures out the robbery gang and nails them down, meanwhile learning more and more about Forrest’s career.
The crimes are as harmless and victimless as they can be — the robber never draws a gun and the individuals he sticks up never anything but nice things to say about the “gentleman” who just threatened their lives. The only lacking in plot surfaces when John talks to Forrest’s daughter, who wants nothing to do with her father. There seems to a story which is missing here, which if shown, might have added another layer to the character. Barring that, all the other characters are fall into the rhythm of the film very nicely, and give very good performances, including single scene cameos with the likes of Elisabeth Moss. Redford and Sissy are the stars of the movie, as each conversation between them brings out a sense of warmth and comfort. Redford doesn’t have to make much of an effort here, his long experience in playing such roles helps him here. He is very naturally attractive and and maintains a subtlety, always keeping it intriguing. In a montage towards the end showing Tucker’s prison escapes, there is a clip of Redford in his 1960s playing an escaped convict in The Chase, which is just enough to briefly remind us of his earlier self. This role would surely earn the 82-year-old a final Best Actor nomination.
Despite the film appearing to be a typical Hollywood style glamorisation of a criminal, the laid back style of directing really makes us feel in the moment, as if the film is matching the attitude of the central character. The director David Lowery is on a roll here with four back to back hits, possibly the best start to his career. He and the cinematographer bring the perfect 70s aesthetic to the film that lends it the smoothness and relaxation to the film. They don’t push it too far also, adding some grit and roughness to film so that it doesn’t entirely become a glamorisation of Redford and his character. That is weirdly fitting, for a movie that is so much about the search for satisfaction in life. What I could not really convince myself is the relevance and message of the film to the current times, leaving me to suffice it as a tribute to Redford. The movie might not loud and flashy, but it is not reserved either. It’s laidback ,its gentle and is definitely one of my favourite movies of last year.
