Amidst the speculation of Robert Redford's retirement, audiences can be relieved either way with the tremendous, heartwarming tale of "The Old Man and the Gun."
"The Old Man and the Gun" is a film adaptation of the true story first written about in David Grann's 2003 New Yorker article of the same name. Written and directed by David Lowery ("Pete's Dragon," "A Ghost Story"), the film follows larger than life gentleman & bank robber Forrest Tucker (Robert Redford) as he revels in the balance of crime, life and relationships, mainly with Jewel (Sissy Spacek). The film switches narrative perspectives throughout, focusing on Tucker's tales, but also inter-cutting with the lead detective on his case, John Hunt (Casey Affleck) and his efforts to put Tucker behind bars.
From start to finish, "The Old Man and the Gun" is a lovely-paced road film across the 1980's United States. Lowery takes a fresh perspective on the action / crime genre, focusing largely on the figure behind the crimes in lieu of the set-pieces and explosion often occupying modern cinema. We get to see the camaraderie amongst Tucker, Teddy Green (Danny Glover), and Waller (Tom Waits) as they bond over life stories and plot their next bank heist. Forrest Tucker shines as the 76-year-old robber, providing a charisma rarely seen in the machismo criminal. As the film shows entertaining montages of Tucker, Green and Waller (aka the 'Over-the-Hill gang') robbing banks, all the tellers, managers and operators who directly dealt with them told authorities how kind and polite he was. "The Old Man and the Gun" is confident in its pacing and tone, which firms up the story and allows the audience to enjoy the ride, almost as much as Forrest Tucker.
While Lowery does a nice job directing the film, the focus is on Redford and Spacek, who carry the film and center its emotional core. Tucker and Jewel bond like atoms in this film, as viewers can understand and relate with the organic progression of their relationship as they each learn more about the other. While it is very much Redford-focused, "The Old Man and the Gun" has nice development available for Spacek, who remains the light at the end of the tunnel for Forrest and a catalyst for change in his stone-like conviction.
Even though the subject matter of 'cops and robbers' is familiar to Redford and his storied career, "The Old Man and The Gun" finds a nice medium between respecting Redford's roles and telling a truthful, compelling story. As we learn more about Tucker's 16+ prison escapes and 100's of bank robberies, we see memorable flashbacks featuring no other than Redford's likeness throughout his early career as a Hollywood star. The images of young Redford don't come across as praiseworthy or forced, but are believable in the context of the story, which is a testament to the devotion Lowery and the cast put forth to creating this film. Like "The Sisters Brothers," "The Old Man and the Gun" focuses on the man behind the gun rather than the gun and its explosive capacity, which leads to a far more enriching and impactful story. If it is true that Robert Redford is done with acting at the ripe age of 82, "The Old Man and the Gun" is about as good of a swan-song as one can receive, as the film manages to display his charismatic and uplifting spirit inside his iconic role of the criminal outlaw everyone wants to catch up to.
RATING: 9.5/10
Sean Kelso is a junior in Columbia College.