Going in Style Review
PG13: Drug Content, Language, and Some Suggestive Material
Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, Village Roadshow Pictures, RatPac Entertainment
1 Hr and 37 Minutes
Cast: Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine. Alan Arkin, Matt Dillion, Ann-Margret, Christopher Lloyd, Kenan Thompson, John Ortitz, Joey King, Peter Serafinowicz
REVIEW: Back in 1979, comedy legends George Burns, Art Carney, and [more theater legend] Lee Strasberg starred in a comedy called Going in Style where three friends in their elderly age decide to rob a bank. It was clever, original, and had a surprising social commentary. Now in the idealistic obsoleteness of Hollywood, it is about time a remake was warranted. But instead of the legendary actors of the 70s (who are all dead now), we have legendary actors for our generation. From director JD from Scrubs. I mean from director Chicken Little. GODDAMN IT I MEAN from director Zach Braff, and the Academy Award-nominated screenwriter of Hidden Figures comes Three Men and a Robbery —— I MEAN Going in Style .
Desperate to pay the bills and come through for their loved ones, three lifelong pals risk it all by embarking on a daring bid to knock off the very bank that absconded with their money.
THE GOOD: When you see movies with young people robbing banks you both hate and envy them. When you get experienced, charming, and cynical old people robbing a bank, you sorta root for them. If you’re in the middle of a robbery conducted by old people you want to root for them and go, “you know what? You earned this. You’re respectful and you deserve it. You go take that money.” And that's what you see here. Three likable guys robbing a bank and you root for them because they are charming and likable. The best thing about Going in Style is the three main leads and they’re charming chemistry with one another.
When you put more than a quarter of your life at a dead-end job where they screw you over of course desperate times comes for desperate measure. You see these guys get finically screwed by their bank, their job, and their own government. It is genuinely sad and depressing to see these charming gents go through hell when shit hits the fan. Because of your attachment to the guys, you’re with Joe, Al, and Willie every step of the way as they’re motivated to rob their Williamsburg bank.
For a comedy, Braff does a great job bringing out of these Academy Award-winning performers far much better than Jon Turteltaub did with his old people comedy Last Vegas. Besides directing two indie films, Braff also directed episodes of Scrubs which is a show of hysterical situations that never go over the top or ever goes offensive. When he has to have his actors go through funny situations, the majority of the humor succeeds. It's funny to see these skilled professionals do average people stuff like eating at a diner and watching The Bachelorette then do odd embarrassing stuff such as smoking weed and getting munchies. It's weird, but it actually works because it is both safe and inoffensive. It’s not aiming for edge and shock value like your annoyingly grating DeNiro comedy such as Bad Grandpa or Little Fockers.
From the entire cast, the one who makes the most out of Melfi’s script is Alan Arkin. With Alan Arkin’s delivery are always on point for it is his sarcasm that hits it home. From a lot of the roles, Arkin had in the past he always shine because of his sarcasm and unexpected lines of dialogue. That’s how he got his Best Supporting Actor nomination for Argo; it was his comedy that carried his performance. He is the wild card of the film and he's amazing.
THE BAD: Yes. we get the cast are over the age of 60, but that doesn’t mean the entire film has to rely on old people jokes. Not just jokes of other people saying, “OH YOU’RE OLD,” but jokes about how they’re all two breaths away from death. We get it they’re old. Don’t make me think they’re going to die.
I’m going to be honest, but I did not like this movie for a good 10 minutes. The movie is set up like a sitcom. Not a cable one from TBS, but a network one off NBC. The jokes were cheap and some sequences took longer than expected. Once it got to the heist plan, the movie picked up 10 times in production value. The visuals got more impressive as the gentlemen's plan got more elaborate. For a brief moment, Zach Braff let out an inner Edgar Wright. From there, I went from being entertained to being really happy. It is something Melfi does excel at as a screenwriter. From St. Vincent to Hidden Figures, he knows how to win an audience with his writing by relating his characters to his audience. This quickly became the best heist film since Marvel's Ant-Man.
If you’re not Alan Arkin, Michael Caine, or Morgan Freeman and in their age range, you get the short end of the stick. The movie has classic actress Ann-Margret as Alan Arkin’s love interest but for a good chunk of it, she engages him with sexual innuendos. Christopher Lloyd is an old and feeble dude with a one-note joke that makes you go, “Man don’t do that to Doc. Brown.”
As I said the movie is pretty safe. The film is also predictable and cliched, but you know what? It makes for a pretty damn good time. Just like how kids need their entertaining diversions, old people need their entertaining diversions as well. This is a perfectly entertaining film for adults, their parents, and their grandparents. The film has a shift towards the last act where consequences do ensue and leads to several pulse-pounding sequences that don't involve action, but instead interrogation.
LAST STATEMENT: Though it doesn’t have its social commentary, Going in Style is an entertaining sitcom-styled film that benefits from its three charming leads, its well-developed script and a solid direction from Zach Braff.
Rating: 3.5/5 | 71%
Super Scene: “Nice day at the carnival”
