THE OLD MAN
DISNEY+/STAR, STREAMING NOW
This new drama is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Thomas Perry, showing on the Star strand on Disney+. The action centres on Dan Chase (the great Jeff Bridges, The Big Lebowski), a former CIA agent, who decided to ditch the agency and live a quiet life in a remote mountain town. But when an assassin arrives and tries to kill Chase, he realises that he has been rumbled and goes on the run.
With Dan Chase now in the wind, the FBI’S Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Harold Harper
(John Lithgow, who you may recognise as Winston Churchill from The Crown) is tasked with hunting him down.
And, what do you know, the pair have a complicated past, having both worked in Afghanistan in the ’80s, and the audience is given tantalising glimpses of their shady backstory, via flashbacks.
Assisting Harper is his protégé Angela Adams (Alia Shawkat, Transparent), who may or may not have secret motives of her own, and CIA Special Agent Raymond Waters (EJ Bonilla, Gemini Man). When Chase proves to be more difficult to apprehend than the authorities expected, Julian Carson (Gbenga Akinnagbe), a highly trained special ops contractor, is sent to pursue him, as well. While on the run, Chase rents a room from Zoe (Amy Brenneman, Judging Amy), and the pair develop a friendship, which then puts her in harm’s way.
It’s familiar territory, but thanks to strong performances – from Lithgow and Bridges, particularly – plus plenty of gritty action and tension provided by the fugitive-on-the-run narrative, each episode plays out like a mini Jason Bourne film. Immensely enjoyable and entertaining. ★★★★