Director Jeff Kanew's crime comedy "Tough Guys" gave Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas the big-send-off. This constituted their final film together as co-stars. Previously, these two Hollywood titans had appeared in "I Walk Alone" (1948), "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" (1957), "The Devil's Disciple" (1959), "The List of Adrian Messenger" (1963), "Seven Days in May" (1964), and the made-for-television thriller "Victory at Entebbe" (1976). Comparatively, "Tough Guys" surpasses "The List of Adrian Messenger" and "Victory at Entebbe." Lancaster and Douglas were cast as two old-time convicts who spent 30 years in prison for robbing a train and ultimately received parole. Life has changed substantially for 72 year old Harry Doyle and 67 year old Archie Long. They have been cell mates for three decades, and they weren't exactly ecstatic about that. Now that they are on the outside, they find it increasingly difficult to fit into society. Harry is sent to a retirement home in a large building where a physically fit man bullies the oldsters with a smile. Harry spearheads an uprising to obtain better food for the residents. Meanwhile, physically fit Archie hits Los Angeles running and survives things until he cannot take it anymore. He moves in with a gym manager, but her sexual demands and the clownish outfits that he must wear turn him off. At the same time that our heroes are struggling to blend into society, the cop who arrested them, Deke Yablonski (Charles Durning of "Sharky's Machine"), suspects that 30 years behind bars hasn't rehabilitated them. Sadly, Yablonski is right. The old guys turn back to a life of crime, and they hijack the same train that they robbed back in the old days. Lancaster and Douglas still have some charisma, especially Douglas who moons Yablonski from the top of a moving train during the finale. Happily, Jeff Kanew doesn't wear out his welcome, and reportedly the movie made enough to break even and get the two faded stars about a million each in their pockets. The scene in the old folks home when Harry leads the protest against the inadequate food is reminiscent of "White Heat." Eli Wallach has supporting role as a bespectacled hit-man who has waited 30 years to carry out a contract on our protagonists. Of course, if you're as big a fan of Lancaster and Douglas as I am, you will have to see it. . One of the reoccurring gags appears to have been appropriated from William Goldman's "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" screenplay about rules in a fight. Mind you, "Tough Guys" isn't great, but it was fine to see these two kicking butt and taking names.
Review of Tough Guys
