Movie Review: The Old Man & The Gun starring Robert Redford, Sissy Spacek, and Casey Affleck…
Starring Robert Redford, Sissy Spacek, Casey Affleck and with two excellent rounds of support from Tom Waits and Donald Glover, ’The Old Man & The Gun’ is a gentle, sedately paced film based on the life of career criminal Forrest Tucker. Written and directed by David Lowry (‘Ain’t Them Body Saints’, ‘Ghost Story’), it’s a tale taken from David Grann’s 2003 piece of the same name for The New Yorker.
’The Old Man & The Gun’ is not a great movie but it is a good one. Affleck plays tired detective John Hunt perfectly, Sissy Spacek sparkles as Jewel, and Tom Waits’ Waller growls through every scene as he very nearly steals the entire show. The story of a man who has escaped prison eighteen times and failed an additional twelve is interesting. All the pieces are wonderful but, just like those that find themselves at the end of Tucker’s revolver, we’re never blown away.
Robert Redford is Forrest Tucker. A career criminal specialising in bank robberies without using his gun, he’s old but refuses to stop living. He’s robbed banks all his life, so why would he stop now? He’s a smiling outlaw, a gun-wielding pacifist, and the perfect role for Redford’s final outing. This movie idolises Tucker, specifically his chasing of happiness in life even if that happiness tainted.
The true story of Forrest Tucker outside of the robberies and escapes, somewhat obviously, is that of a man who spent the majority of his life behind bars. That story is grimmer than the movie allows itself to be (one forgotten family aside) and that’s because we don’t generally react positively to men in their sixties being shot multiple times during a car chase. Action stars are young for a reason and this movie wants to be a happy one.
The balance between the story told by David Grann and that brought to the screen by David Lowry is where the ‘The Old Man & The Gun’ struggles. The pieces of the tale left untold, you feel, would have brought a bit more spark to a movie that plays it too safe and leaves the viewer a little cold.
Redford has always loved outlaws. From ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ to ‘Jeremiah Johnson’ and ‘The Sting’, he’s been telling us as much all along and relishes the chance to play another here. Forrest Tucker is the Sundance Kid if Bolivia hadn’t happened, and viewing this movie through the prism of Redford’s back catalogue is where the true enjoyment can be found.
It’s interesting to see Redford back in this mould. The body might be a little slower, but the tongue is still sharp and the smile is just as quick. It’s a departure from late era Redford and that makes it an important movie. This is a Redford ‘Greatest Hits’ and it implores us to marvel at an 82 year old that never really missed a step in the 60-odd movies he made during a career spanning the best part of six decades. Like Tucker, he’s kept doing what’s brought his life alive, kept taking one more job. Though, it seems, the actor is showing the bank robber how and when to take a step back.
I hope Redford manages to stick the retirement. He was right to play Tucker, not imitate. He has Sundance, directing, and the environment to keep him busy. We’re left with The Kid, Johnny Hooker, Bob Woodward, Forrest Tucker and all the others he’s brought alive on the big screen to keep us from tempting him back.
Don’t watch ‘The Old Man & The Gun’ because it’s a great movie because it’s not. Do watch it to celebrate one of the greatest screen careers to date, one that few will surpass.
Ryan Goodyear
10 October 2018