Going in Style (2017)

This is the first time I have seen such a walk in the park, lazy, casual heist movie. There are three leads, all get cut off from the pension, so they decide to rob and bank, and they do. That's it.There are some backstories but nothing much serious. I guess the three leads, acting powerhouses as they are must not even broken a sweat filing this one. It is like a quick buck for them while working on some other project. When you are Caine and Freeman, nothing really is that hard, but this was exceptionally easy. No doubt the movie tanked and that was not because of the acting. That was spot on, not much was demanded from them. The script was fairly straightforward and borderline sloppy. Every movie has a purpose, like Fight club we saw just a few days back was a statement about consumerism and capitalism. This one has nothing of that sort. I watched it because I like those two and it was a long time since it was downloaded in my amazon prime account.If you like Caine and Freeman, you'll get plenty of them here. Only for them, nothing else noteworthy.

This movie was terrific-mind you that might be because I love Alan Arkin but I think it was just because it's such a feel good story. Totally enjoyable and the comedy was superb.

Meaningless fun is the best description for this comedy caper that enables its central stars to relax and have a good laugh. Narratively speaking though, it lacks heft and bumbles along with its minimal emotional dialogue. Three old men are having trouble in their lives respectively, it all gets horribly worse when their pension is taken from the bank. They take it upon themselves to rob a bank and gain what is rightfully theirs because y'know, life is short. A story that has the best of intentions but ultimately fails to be memorable and unfortunately is only just mildly entertaining. The biggest compliment the film proposes is the dedication in showcasing its three central stars. Arkin, Caine and Freeman have excellent natural chemistry and give suitable performances. Nothing outstanding, just the usual delivery that they are all so famous for, but it's comforting. Braff's direction was fine, I liked some of the editing choices and scene transitions particularly during the interrogation where the picture transforms into split screen in order to traverse between all three characters. It all feels light, fluffy and simple fun. It's just a shame that it wastes the opportunity to elevate itself. The screenplay lacks emotion and suffers from predictability. Sure, some of the dialogue will make you smile not because it's funny, but the fact you feel bad if you don't. It attempts to highlight that retirement years aren't necessarily "game over" in which you can still achieve remarkable feats, but the weightlessness of the script prevents that. Far too empty and far too safe. The FBI agents were useless also, I mean I could've figured out who the culprits were in hours. If this was released ten or twenty years ago, this could be different review. However the mature comedy sub-genre, as niche as it is, is rapidly becoming saturated to which Going In Style plays it too safe to separate itself from the rest. Enjoyable, yet instantly forgettable.

Nice old fashioned crime comedy. The kind of film that rarely gets made these days, which is very unfortunate. It reunites 3 Oscar winning legend in a nice speedy, self ironic but also moving comedy. Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Alan Arkin all give good performances and prove they still have it. The best of the bunch was probably Morgan Freeman but they were all pretty much in the same league. Nice to see support by Ann-Margret and Christopher Lloyd. The screenplay was solid enough, not all of it was believable and much was predictable but it did not hold the film back to be solid entertaining. Zack Braff is a better director than actor in my books. I think it was good to have a younger spirited director backstage, although I would have loved if someone like Rob Reiner, who can I can perfectly see handling little con coms like this. All in all, no classic or anything but solid and easy entertaining and the chance to see some of the best actors of their generation in one film.