The Old Man and a Gun - Review

The Old Man and a Gun

Robert Redford won an Oscar as Best Director in 1980 for the Best Picture “Ordinary People” in his directorial debut. And while he is more noted for his acting in films such “Barefoot in the Park”, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’, “All the President’s Men” and “All is Lost” he also has been a highly successful businessman and producer including creating in 1978 The Sundance film Festival, a now much coveted film prize for small independent film makers.

This past Summer Redford announced he was retiring from acting but not necessarily from making films. In his last performance, Redford plays in a true story about an old man with a gun named Forrest Tucker. A career bank robber and prison escapee who always committed crimes with politeness and smile, but never using his gun.

The film title is called “The Old Man & the Gun”. And with the film taking place in the early 1980’s we see Forrest at the age of 70 making an audacious escape from San Quentin to start conducting an unprecedented string of heists that confound authorities in Texas but enchanted the public. Wrapped up in the pursuit of Forrest is a young detective and happily married man named John Hunt (Casey Affleck), who becomes unusually captivated with Forrest's commitment to his banking robbing craft. 

Also there was a woman named Jewel (Actress Sissy Spacek) who while one day evading police he randomly meets her on the side of the road. Jewel eventually starts to fall in love with the charming Forrest in spite of his chosen profession.

PLOT: Running at 1:33 minutes the story is light, warm, personable and full of nostalgic charm. And while it never has any one moment  that can be described as having any real dramatic tension or consequential heft, it still moves with a romantic sweetness to it.  Almost moving with seamlessness from beginning to end of an old fashion tale of an old fashion couple and an old era when people were just naturally more kind, chivalrous and polite to one another……………..even sometimes under the rare circumstances when they were committing a crime. But more than this enduring technical quality, the film does offer us the viewing audience the last chance to see what perfect acting is as well as a truly fitting acting performance by Redford as his farewell from the big screen.

You can almost see Redford having fun in the role being sly in one minute and dashing and debonair in the next. Smart, shrewd and calculating when being chased by the police and yet a very earnest and humble man who at the end of the day wished never to harm anyone in his many criminal pursuits.

“The Old Man and a Gun”, an absolute perfect ending to a major Hollywood star’s acting career………….I bid him fondly adieu.

3.50 Stars