Genial, warm-hearted upgrade

as the men contemplate illness, loneliness and longing.

Most of those observations come by way of Albert, an amateur sax player and grump. As he did in his stand-out performances in Little Miss Sunshine and Argo, Arkin infuses his character with just enough sympathy to be bearable, but without begging to be liked, much less loved. Caine and Freeman deliver similarly affecting, well-judged portrayals of men who are grappling with a constellation of disappointments that, as befits their generation, they bear with stoic resignation and fiery resolve. The guys have a habit of calling each other “kid” and “young man”, and it sounds like a warning shot across an unseen bow of invisibility, irrelevance and death itself.

It’s the chemistry among these three fine actors that keeps Going in Style afloat, lifting it from the formulaic and forgettable – which, essentially, it is – and making it genuinely, if modestly, enjoyable. At one point, the partners in crime watch Dog Day Afternoon, if only as a primer in what not to do when their big day comes.

Going in Style will never be remembered as a classic of that order but, as the men who play its crafty central characters know so well, there’s something to admire in simply getting the job done – with restraint, professionalism and a few well-earned laughs along the way. – Washington Post