The Old Man and the Gun


2018 crime drama

Rating: 15/20

Plot: An old guy robs banks with Tom Waits and Danny Glover.

Anybody who knows me knows why I was excited about this movie. It had nothing to do with it being Robert Redford's swan song and everything to do with the appearance of Tom Waits, one of my favorite human beings. Waits is fun here, and David Lowery gives him one moment to shine by allowing him to do what he does best--tell a story. Like the pie-eating scene in Lowery's ghost movie, hearing Waits' character talk about why he doesn't like Christmas is an unexpected bit of genius.

Redford ends his career with a bang if this really is his final movie. His beautiful eyes, that mischievous smile, and that natural charm are probably enough to carry a movie like this, but his old man is such an intriguing character and the period details are so good. There's a developing romance with Sissy Spacek that ironically works like a temptress, drawing him away from the life of crime that he is more naturally drawn to.

After this movie, a couple of middle-aged women who were sitting in front of me and annoyingly talking throughout the movie, were talking about Tom Waits. They knew the name but didn't know who he was and were looking up his filmography on the phone. One of them thought he was black. I chimed in, but they didn't seem impressed with my list of top-25 Tom Waits songs that I have stored in my memory just in case there's every a situation where that is needed.

This might be the most 70's 2018 film of the year, but I'd have to think about it.

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