David Lowery’s ‘The Old Man & the Gun’ is a somber, funny film that gives Robert Redford his best role in decades—one that might be his last ever.
Many heist movies center around the idea of “the last score,” the final bank that needs to be robbed or art piece to be forged or whatever in order to get out of the 
game forever. An aging grifter pulls off some outlandish job, and regardless of their success, it allows the older guy to be happily retired at the end of the movie.
In The Old Man & the Gun, however, there is no last score for Forrest Tucker (Robert Redford, in what may or may not be his last performance before retirement). He doesn’t have a score to settle or a big job to pull off. Redford is simply playing a man who robs banks for the love of the game, one that involves cat-and-mouse chases with police officers (led by Casey Affleck), falling in love with an equally charming woman (Sissy Spacek), a crackerjack team behind him (Tom Waits and Danny Glover) and a thrill for life. Much like The Sting or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid or The Chase or any number of parts for Redford, he is again the con man with a heart of gold, his typical performance tics (a winning grin, double-takes at the camera, a hearty chuckle in the face of danger) on full display. Who cares if most of those movies are now over or nearing 50 years old?
Billed as a mostly true story, Forrest Tucker is a real man who escaped from prison sixteen times in his life, robbing banks well into his seventies and eighties. He never really settles down, nor does he want to. Everyone on screen remains in the prime of their lives, despite Spacek’s fumbling to read small print or the trio of Redford, Waits, and Glover being called the “Over the Hill Gang” or even the way that Redford carries his 82 years with him every time he moves. A recurring line (one of many, akin to the Coen Brothers in that regard) maintains that Redford always “just seems so happy” when robbing banks, a smile and warm greeting to everyone he robs. He cracks a joke, doesn’t ever shoot his weapon, and just calmly walks away with a bank’s money. Because he is just that slick, and so is The Old Man & the Gun.
Robert Redford (Forrest Tucker) in ‘The Old Man & the Gun’
The Texas-circa-1981 creates the perfect environment for the film and for Texas-born writer/director David Lowery (who previously worked with Redford on Pete’s Dragon and Affleck in A Ghost Story and Ain’t Them Bodies Saints) to work, providing a perfectly country-fried atmosphere to the film. It feels equally like a western—down to beautiful shots of horseback riding and a bluegrass-infused score—as it does an Altman movie—with some casting choices, like Spacek and Keith Carradine in a bit role, seeming to bring the comparison about intentionally—which lets Lowery get away with anything he wants to. When the movie wants to be funny, it kills with comedy. When it goes for a more downbeat mood, a simple glance from Sissy Spacek (giving a divine performance as a woman with a sense of fun) can bring the mood down. And when the movie takes its shot at sentimentality and nostalgia for the Redford of years passed, a simple montage manages to take your breath away and drew applause from my audience.
Much of the fervor around The Old Man & the Gun will relate to whether this will truly be the final Redford movie or not, but even he has now said he hopes that the film can live solely on its own merits. My personal hope is for as many people to see this movie as possible, either because they want to see Redford’s last film or because they hear just how great it is. Many movies can be sweet and charming, but few will ever pull it off as successfully as Lowery has time and again.
‘The Old Man & the Gun’ debuts in theaters on September 28th. Directed by David Lowery. Starring Robert Redford, Casey Affleck, Danny Glover, Tika Sumpter, with Tom Waits, and Sissy Spacek.
