Going in Style (C or 2/4 stars)
Actor Zach Braff (from Scrubs) directs fellow actors in 'Goin in Style', a remake of a 1979 caper comedy starring George Burns, Art Carney & Lee Strasburg. In this version, Joe (84 yr. old Michael Caine) is at his unsympathetic Brooklyn bank dealing with a home foreclosure notice when armed thieves enter & rob it. When Joe & his best pals/neighbors Willie (79 yr. old Morgan Freeman) & Al ( 83 yr. old Alan Arkin) find out - much to their chagrin - that the steel company where they worked for more than 30 yrs. is no longer going to honor their pensions, Joe convinces his buddies to rob their bank(!) for precisely what the pension owes them.
With help from his "low-life" ex son-in-law (who runs a medical marijuana dispensary) Joe & the guys take bank robbery lessons from a crime 'consultant' (John Ortiz) whose legitimate business is a local pet shop {setting up cute scenes near the end}. Meanwhile, Al starts a romance with beautiful supermarket clerk Annie (76 yr. old Ann-Margret), & Willie tries to hide the fact he's in desperate need of a kidney transplant; he'd love to see his family - particularly, his adoring granddaughter - one last time. Hijinks ensue.
So 'Going in Style' is probably exactly what you think it might be: implausible as the day is long, unchallenging, a bit stale, but impossible to dislike thanks to the relative charms of Caine, Freeman & Arkin. These 3 Oscar winners prove that they still 'got it'; with sturdy comedic timing, likeability, & on-screen camaraderie. 'Going in Style' is a hit-&-miss blend of Ocean's Eleven {friends executing a heist} + the "banks are bad!!" sentiment that we got in last yr.'s bank drama, Hell or High Water. Yes, there's the FBI (an agent played by Matt Dillon), but 'Going in Style' is more a humorous romp about 3 elderly men taking revenge on the company/bank that wronged them than it is a cat-&-mouse crime thriller.
The movie is ‘fine’. Our protagonists are endearing. There are humorous bits. I love that during the robbery, our trio wears masks of Rat Packers: Sinatra, Martin & Davis Jr.. I also admire the segment in which our trio constructs & then executes their watertight alibis (with intricate choreography) … very clever. But there's little that's truly unique or fresh about the proceedings. Cliches abound. And there's a segment in the middle of the film in which our trio test-out robbing a convenient store that is SO painfully unfunny (and unrealistic, to boot), that my mind actually wandered from the proceedings from anger. Too much of the 'comedy' in this film is lame.
The main appeal of the film is that: all these guys want to do is provide for their children/grandchildren, be with them, have some bad coffee & pie at their local diner, & finish paying off their mortgages -- they're decent human beings; you want 'em to pull off the heist. Arkin does his loveable curmudgeon shtick as a bachelor finding love when he least expected it. Freeman is affecting as the sweet grandpa in renal failure who knows that his days on Earth are waning. And Caine’s Joe wants to ensure that his daughter & adoring granddaughter can continue living in his house as long as need be. I also liked the small turns by Ann-Margret {always nice to see her on the big screen}, and 78 yr. old Christopher Lloyd.
Having said all that, though all of these actors look to be having a good time together, they don't have to stretch their thespian skills at all and, you kinda get the impression that their only incentive to make this movie was for the paycheck. Zach Braff's directing skills didn't do the film any favors. His work is straightforward. Nothing about the film is challenging. But then, most audiences don't want to be challenged. 'Going in Style' is the perfect (and perfectly average) way to spend 90 minutes in front of your TV set; I wouldn't recommend it for theater viewing ... not at prices, today.
With help from his "low-life" ex son-in-law (who runs a medical marijuana dispensary) Joe & the guys take bank robbery lessons from a crime 'consultant' (John Ortiz) whose legitimate business is a local pet shop {setting up cute scenes near the end}. Meanwhile, Al starts a romance with beautiful supermarket clerk Annie (76 yr. old Ann-Margret), & Willie tries to hide the fact he's in desperate need of a kidney transplant; he'd love to see his family - particularly, his adoring granddaughter - one last time. Hijinks ensue.
So 'Going in Style' is probably exactly what you think it might be: implausible as the day is long, unchallenging, a bit stale, but impossible to dislike thanks to the relative charms of Caine, Freeman & Arkin. These 3 Oscar winners prove that they still 'got it'; with sturdy comedic timing, likeability, & on-screen camaraderie. 'Going in Style' is a hit-&-miss blend of Ocean's Eleven {friends executing a heist} + the "banks are bad!!" sentiment that we got in last yr.'s bank drama, Hell or High Water. Yes, there's the FBI (an agent played by Matt Dillon), but 'Going in Style' is more a humorous romp about 3 elderly men taking revenge on the company/bank that wronged them than it is a cat-&-mouse crime thriller.
The movie is ‘fine’. Our protagonists are endearing. There are humorous bits. I love that during the robbery, our trio wears masks of Rat Packers: Sinatra, Martin & Davis Jr.. I also admire the segment in which our trio constructs & then executes their watertight alibis (with intricate choreography) … very clever. But there's little that's truly unique or fresh about the proceedings. Cliches abound. And there's a segment in the middle of the film in which our trio test-out robbing a convenient store that is SO painfully unfunny (and unrealistic, to boot), that my mind actually wandered from the proceedings from anger. Too much of the 'comedy' in this film is lame.
The main appeal of the film is that: all these guys want to do is provide for their children/grandchildren, be with them, have some bad coffee & pie at their local diner, & finish paying off their mortgages -- they're decent human beings; you want 'em to pull off the heist. Arkin does his loveable curmudgeon shtick as a bachelor finding love when he least expected it. Freeman is affecting as the sweet grandpa in renal failure who knows that his days on Earth are waning. And Caine’s Joe wants to ensure that his daughter & adoring granddaughter can continue living in his house as long as need be. I also liked the small turns by Ann-Margret {always nice to see her on the big screen}, and 78 yr. old Christopher Lloyd.
Having said all that, though all of these actors look to be having a good time together, they don't have to stretch their thespian skills at all and, you kinda get the impression that their only incentive to make this movie was for the paycheck. Zach Braff's directing skills didn't do the film any favors. His work is straightforward. Nothing about the film is challenging. But then, most audiences don't want to be challenged. 'Going in Style' is the perfect (and perfectly average) way to spend 90 minutes in front of your TV set; I wouldn't recommend it for theater viewing ... not at prices, today.