Movie Review: The Old Man and the Gun

November was a very special month in terms of movies for me.

First, I got to see the original theatrical cut of Star Wars one weekend.

Then, the following week, I got to see one of my favorite Batman movies on the big screen as part of a special limited release. (More on that in another review.)

And finally, I got to see the movie that will be the final performance of Hollywood legend Robert Redford, who announced his retirement from acting.

So with that, let's dive into The Old Man and the Gun.

Our story opens in Texas in the very early 1980s. An old man with a mustache and a hearing aid walks out of a bank, having just robbed it. He gets in his car, removes his fake mustache, and the hearing aid turns out to be a homemade police scanner. He drives away, to a place where a second car is waiting; he switches vehicles and drives away, getting away clean with the robbery.

This is Forrest Tucker, Redford's character. A career criminal and serial robber, who's been in and out of prison numerous times, with over a dozen successful escapes to his name. He's a professional, quite skilled at what he does.

He's also a very affable, charming and good-natured fellow. On the road out of town, Forrest comes across a woman named Jewel (played by Sissy Spacek) who's having car trouble. Forrest stops his car and tries to help out, giving her a ride and taking her to dinner at a small diner he knows in the area. Forrest and Jewel hit it off very well, and eventually start a relationship.

And it's very easy to see why. Robert Redford's performance as the aging bank robber is full of a breezy, infectious charisma. He plays a man who robs banks not out of hardness or meanness, but because it makes him smile. He likes what he does, he's damned good at it, and he goes out of his way to make sure that his crimes don't get anyone hurt. (A moment in the film that is both funny and sweet, is seeing Forrest's genuine concern during a robbery, when the teller starts to cry.)

Besides his own robberies, Forrest is also working with two other aging criminals, Teddy (played by Danny Glover) and Wallen (played by Tom Waits). The three of them work together on planning a heist of a large bank, a more risky prospect than the usual small banks that Forrest often goes after.

However, in many ways the big heist is mere background detail to Forrest's own relationship with Jewel, and with the investigation of the police detective looking into the spree of bank robberies that Forrest has carried out. Said detective, John Hunt (played by Casey Affleck) is a fun contrast to Forrest in a number of ways: while Forrest is bright-eyed and charming, energetic and seeming far younger than he really is, Hunt is weary, constantly comes across as exhausted, and kind of awkward too - soft-spoken, a bit of a mumbler... but at the same time, he's also dedicated to his job as a policeman as well as being a good husband and father.

Ultimately, though, this film is Redford's story, and the movie very smartly plays into that in the scenes with Forrest. The Old Man and the Gun is in many ways a simple film, that still manages to defy many expectations of the crime movie narrative through its basic structure: Hunt is searching for the mastermind behind these bank robberies, but there is no major personal stake in his investigation, he's just a cop interested in figuring out the criminal he's trying to bring to justice. Forrest Tucker is, as I said before, a charming and gentlemanly fellow who enjoys the thrill of evading police and robbing banks, but he also clearly cares for Jewel too, and again, is dedicated to keeping his crimes clean and free of danger to others. There is no dramatic shootout or last stand in the case of Forrest Tucker, just a kind of sad chase as the old bank robber finally comes up against the end of the line.

The Old Man and the Gun is a very minimalist film, one that also quite skillfully harkens back to the era it is set in. Watching the movie, I really felt like I was watching a long-lost classic, thanks to the movie's old-fashioned color palette and methodical pacing. This is a film that you watch for the stars, and in that regard it's a very charming and engaging movie.

As I'd said before, Redford's easygoing performance is superb. He's both charming as hell, and yet also tragic in a few ways - especially because of the fact that you know the end is coming for his run (of both Forrest's impressive career, and Redford's too). Besides Redford, Casey Affleck delivers a good performance as well in his role as Detective Hunt.

And also, Sissy Spacek delivers a lot of charm in her own role as Jewel. She's a sweet and charming woman, and the scenes between her and Redford effortlessly sparkle with the charisma of two seasoned performers showing that they still got it.

All in all, The Old Man and the Gun is a film I very much enjoyed. It's very basic in many ways but still manages to hold you and surprise you, carried by the strength and dignity of its main actor's performance. I can scarcely think of a better way for a classic actor like Robert Redford to close out his career on.