ARKIN TAKES A BANK JOB
Veteran actors unite for remake of 1970s heist film
Few actors would be able to hold their own on the big screen with Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, but Alan Arkin can.
The Oscar-honoured performer joins Caine and Freeman in the updated remake of the 1979 octogenarian caper film Going in Style, which originally featured Art Carney, George Burns and Lee Strasberg.
In the Zach Braff-directed update, some things remain the same. The three senior citizens are desperate for money so they plot to rob a bank.
The 21st-century twist from screenwriter Theodore Melfi has the trio hitting the bank that holds their company’s pension funds, cancelled after the conglomerate reorganizes.
Arkin, 83, had only a passing relationship with one of his co-stars.
“I had never met Michael,” he says, “and Morgan I had met only briefly on a stage about 40 years ago at an awards show.” But they got to pretend they were lifelong friends.
Scheduling was a challenge for the movie, shot mostly in Brooklyn, N.Y.
“Michael came in from London and Morgan was in from Mississippi and I was on the West Coast,” Arkin says. “Scheduling us together was tough but we did finally meet for the first time in the costume room trying on our costumes.”
Arkin was the last to sign on: “I didn’t know if they knew my work,” he says of Caine and Freeman. “I know they approved me, so I guess they had some sense of who I am and what I’ve done.”
The trick came in meshing their separate approaches. “I feel we have three very distinct acting styles, but you never know how that’s going to work until you start doing it,” Arkin says. “It can look like the worst combination in the world, but once it clicks it’s just there.”
They connected during the first week of filming, Arkin says.
“It fell together quickly and that’s when you breathe a sigh of relief,” he says. “And then when I saw the movie, I think I’m looking at three old friends. So I guess we worked it out.”
Arkin even got to have a love scene with Ann-Margret, who costars in the production.
“Yeah, who would have thought it?” says Arkin. “Wait until you see who I’m going to be with in my 90s.”
They got along off camera, too: “Annie’s spectacular,” he says. “She deserves every accolade she’s ever received. She’s a force of nature and dear human being.”
Arkin is pleased with the subtle mix of comedy and drama in the heist film.
“I know, it’s different than most movies these days,” he says. “Nobody gets killed and the only car chase is in a very slow vehicle.”
Former Scrubs sitcom star Braff had directed two previous indie films before taking on this project.
“We were easy on him and he was easy on us,” Arkin says.
“He pretty much left us to our own devices. The three of us have about 250 movie credits between us, so we kind of know what we’re doing.”
As for what’s next, “I have four things I’m reading at the moment,” Arkin says. “I’ll know I have to do something when I’m pacing as I read it, and it hasn’t happened in a while.”