Redford rides off into the sunset
‘Old Man & the Gun’ a fitting career finale.
Only the Sundance Kid knows if he’ll ride again. Either way, Redford has given more than he’s taken, leaving us with one (perhaps?) last treasure in an unmatched trove.
There are way worse people to be robbed by than Robert Redford.
The Hollywood legend has been stealing scenes and heisting hearts for almost 60 years, a storied career that seems to be, if his new film “The Old Man & the Gun” isn’t his swan song, at least nearing a curtain call.
That all seems to depend on the day: There’s been retirement talk and also backpedaling. But if this is truly it in a cinema life well-lived, “Old Man” couldn’t be a more perfect adieu, with a flawed title character who brings so much of what we’ve always loved about Redford’s talent while also serving as an entertaining, inviting entry for new fans into a filmography like no other.
Based on the crazy life of a real-life career criminal, director David Lowery’s “Old Man” (in theaters Friday in New York and Los Angeles, expanding nationwide through October) stars Redford as Forrest Tucker, a stick-up artist who busted out of jail 18 times and was holding up banks well into his 70s with his Over-the-Hill Gang (Danny Glover and Tom Waits). As played by the Oscar winner, Forrest is a gentleman bandit with manners, keeping bank tellers calm as he absconds with cash and brandishing a gun yet never needing to use it. There’s a naturalness to it, like going for a cup of coffee.
It carries over into his getaway: Wearing the same easy smile as other Redford anti-heroes (“The Sting,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”), Forrest will even stop on the side of the road to help a woman (Sissy Spacek) with a broken door and not worry too much about the cops speeding to his crime scene.
One of the key relationships of “Old Man” involves detective John Hunt (Casey Affleck) and his pursuit of Forrest – a mutual admiration society between cop and crook – but the other is with Forrest and Spacek’s Jewel. Although in their twilight years, there’s real flirtation and attraction between the two, and Redford’s boyish charm – plus an equally talented dance partner – goes a long way toward believing that Jewel’s OK with falling in love with this guy, even after she finds out his questionable life choices.
But like a stubborn athlete who just can’t stop slinging a football, Forrest is ceaselessly committed to his career path (see: busting out of jail 18 times), even in old age when clearly he should just retire to spend time with Jewel on her farm. It’s those times, as Forrest is faced with a quiet existence, that Redford brilliantly lets down that charm just a little bit to show the sadness of losing the thrill of the chase – followed by the revitalization of one final job.
One has to wonder how much Forrest is a reflection of the man playing him. Lowery wrote the role specifically for Redford and went so far as to toss in a throwback Easter egg: In a montage of Forrest’s breakouts, his escape from Angola uses footage of Redford from 1966’s “The Chase” (in which he starred with Marlon Brando and Jane Fonda). Yet when the actor is faced with a life without acting, can he stay away? Or like with Forrest, is that pull just too strong to ignore?
Only the Sundance Kid knows if he’ll ride again. Either way, Redford has given more than he’s taken, leaving us with one (perhaps?) last treasure in an unmatched trove.