The Old Man & The Gun (2018)

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When you have legends like Redford and Spacek in your film, can it really be bad?  Add in Casey Affleck, imo one of the greatest actors of our time, and you have a film that if nothing else, is just fun to see because of the acting.  Based on the true story of Forrest Tucker (Robert Redford), from his audacious escape from San Quentin at the age of 70 to an unprecedented string of heists that confounded authorities and enchanted the public. Wrapped up in the pursuit are detective John Hunt (Casey Affleck), who becomes captivated with Forrest's commitment to his craft, and a woman (Sissy Spacek), who loves him in spite of his chosen profession.

 

Yes, this is actually based on a true story.  Forrest Tucker just loved to rob banks.  He rarely got huge sums of money but it was big enough so he didn't have to worry about bills and such.  Part of his charm is that he was very polite when robbing the banks and he always looked happy.  He was kind to the tellers he was robbing and although he did carry a concealed handgun, he never used it.  In fact he never even brought it out from under his coat.  He would just simply hand a note to the teller, smile, tip his fedora and then calmly walk out the front door.  This all takes place in the 80's and a scenario like his could never happen today.  Banks are littered with cameras at every angle now and in today's world, his picture would be splattered all over social media.  But this being the 80's, there's a romanticism to it.  You obviously root for him to succeed because he's polite and because he's Robert Redford.

 

Affleck is just as good as Rdeford and he plays the obsessed but amused detective trying to apprehend him.  He is almost in awe of Tucker.  He knows he's an old man, he hears all the stories from the hold up victims of him being polite and kind and this just makes him somewhat conflicted. There's no doubt he wants to catch him but at the same time he can't help but be amused.

 

I enjoyed this film immensely.  Can't say it's for everyone, but for people my age who just enjoy some good acting and a fun and pretty innocuous film, you can't go wrong with this one.

 

9/10