Redford charm is holding up...
MOVIE LEGEND PLAYS TO HIS STRENGTHS
ACTORS are creatures. slippery
The job is, after all, about maintaining a lie and great ones often begin by deceiving themselves.
So I’m not entirely convinced by Robert Redford’s claim that The Old Man & The Gun will be his final film role.
But if the 82-year-old can keep himself from stepping in front of another camera, then this stylish crime drama will be a pretty good way to bow out.
The film is based on 2003 New Yorker article about Forrest Tucker, a career criminal who broke out of San Quentin prison at the age of 70 and went on a bank-robbing spree.
The story is set in 1981 but there’s a whiff of the Old West about this freewheeling outlaw. There’s also something of the actor about him. We see him knock off a fair few banks, but we never see him brandish a gun.
He may or may not have a pistol in his pocket, but his main weapons are a silvery tongue, a warm voice and that famous pair of twinkly baby blues. If his victims see him as a paragon of chivalry, you suspect that’s because Tucker believes it himself.
Director David Lowery, who worked with Redford on his lovely remake of Disney’s Pete’s Dragon, treats the veteran with the respect he deserves. This a rare crime movie that isn’t powered by suspense and shoot-outs. Instead, it’s the performances that make this leisurely drama tick.
Like Tucker, Redford is one of those old-fashioned actors who keep their cards close to their chest. If Tucker feels guilt about his crimes and if his pulse races at that sight of a cop car, he’s not the type to let on. While making his escape from the film’s opening robbery he calmly pulls over to the side of the freeway to help an elderly damsel in distress.
The recently widowed Jewel (Sissy Spacek) has broken down. She thinks this nattily attired old gentleman is her knight in shining armour. We know otherwise.
What looks like a hearing aid is actually attached to a police scanner. And the last thing the cops are looking for is a man helping an old lady fix her car.
It turns out Tucker knows nothing about engines, so he gives her a lift to a diner where they drink coffee and share a slice of pie.
When he tells her he’s a bank