ViewGuide

Created Nov 10, 2018 12:42PM PST • Edited Nov 25, 2018 07:14AM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Great 4.0

   Wonderfully droll and resolutely deadpan, The Old Man & the Gun strikes gold portraying a congenital thief through his long misspent life. Charming from the jump, the Old Man is played by Robert Redford, Mr. Maximum Moviestar at his octogenarian best, still charming and virile after six decades of stardom.

   Filmmaker David Lowery draws an inside straight that he kicks off with a wink to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. This is great, especially since Lowrey’s got the Sundance Kid himself as his leading man.

   Terrific cast – all operating in understated fashion. Redford shares the screen with Sissy Spacek, Casey Affleck, Danny Glover & Tom Waits. Affleck may be a dingbat Affleck but this odd Affleck sure can act.

   Redford can wish for no better a career-capper than Old Man & Gun, even as he demonstrates yet again that he ain’t just getting older, he’s getting better. The real Forrest Tucker could have had no better actor.

   Tucker has scored one more heist 14 years after dying. The great criminal is now a big-time thief of hearts.

4. Acting

   Great 4.0

   • Robert Redford apparently ain’t calling it quits, but could proudly do so based on this quintessential Redford Role, that of real life criminal extraordinaire Forrest Tucker.
   • Casey Affleck is even better as the family man / detective who finally puts cuffs on him, name of John Hunt. See above for my assessment of this particular dingbat Affleck.
     The Best Acting Affleck ain’t Ben, it’s Casey.

   • Sissy Spacek also gets a career-capping role.
   • Danny Glover disappoints.
   • Tom Waits is less weird than usual.
   • Tika Sumpter is so sexy as Affleck’s wife and mother to his children.
     • Ari Elizabeth Johnson as their daughter
     • Teagan Johnson as their son
   • John David Washington is nigh-on unrecognizable as one of Affleck’s fellow detective LTs.

5. Male Stars Perfect 5.0

6. Female Stars Very Good 3.5

7. Female Costars Great 4.0

8. Male Costars Very Good 3.5

10. Film

    Great 4.0

    The Over-the-Hill-Gang would have been a better and even more accurate title than the awkward one that filmmaker David Lowery carried over from The New Yorker article upon which he based the film. But that’s one of the few mistakes he made in crafting this engaging albeit leisurely little treasure of Americana.

11. Direction Great 4.0

12. Play Great 4.0

13. Music Great 4.0

14. Visuals Great 4.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 1.6

17. Sex Innocent 1.5

18. Violence Gentle 1.5

19. Rudeness Salty 1.7

21. Reality

    Glib 1.2

    Forrest “Woody” Tucker was one hell of a criminal: nonviolent and yet a bank robber and prison breaker extraordinaire. The Old Man & the Gun tarts up things here or there but stays impressively close to the important facts, per History vs. Hollywood.

22. Circumstantial Glib 1.5

23. Biological Natural 1.0

24. Physical Natural 1.0