The Old Man & the Gun (2018)

Based on the true story of Forrest Tucker and his audacious escape from San Quentin at the age of 70 to an unprecedented string of heists that confounded authorities and enchanted the public.

Director:

David Lowery

Writers:

David Lowery, David Grann (based on the New Yorker article by)

Stars:

Robert Redford, Casey Affleck, Sissy Spacek

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Redford	...	Forrest Tucker
Casey Affleck	...	John Hunt
Sissy Spacek	...	Jewel
Danny Glover	...	Teddy
Tom Waits	...	Waller
Tika Sumpter	...	Maureen
Ari Elizabeth Johnson	...	Abilene
Teagan Johnson	...	Tyler
Gene Jones	...	Mr. Owens
John David Washington	...	Lt. Kelly
Barlow Jacobs	...	Offerman
Augustine Frizzell	...	Sandra
Jennifer Joplin	...	Martha
Lisa DeRoberts	...	Helen the Teller
Carter Bratton	...	Local News Anchor

Storyline

Based on the true story of Forrest Tucker (Robert Redford), from his audacious escape from San Quentin at the age of 70 to an unprecedented string of heists that confounded authorities and enchanted the public. Wrapped up in the pursuit are detective John Hunt (Casey Affleck), who becomes captivated with Forrest's commitment to his craft, and a woman (Sissy Spacek), who loves him in spite of his chosen profession.

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Plot Keywords:

bank robber | gentleman criminal | septuagenarian | prison escape | heist | 

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Taglines:

It's not about making a living. It's about living.

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 October 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Old Man & the Gun

Filming Locations:

Bethel, Ohio, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$142,131, 30 September 2018, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$11,277,120, 24 January 2019

Company Credits

Production Co:

Condé Nast, Endgame Entertainment, Identity Films (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sissy Spacek and Robert Redford won an Oscar in the same year. Spacek won as Best Actress in a Leading Role for Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) and Redford won as Best Director for Ordinary People (1980).

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Goofs

Besides using the usual movie convention of not using local TV channel numbers for newscasts, the news stories displayed were typical of smaller town station packages and looked more like early seventies news. Dallas TV news departments KDFW, KXAS, KTVT and especially WFAA-TV were high quality operations and WFAA's 1981 operation included many specialized "beat" reporters focusing on detailed investigation of business, crime, medicine, politics and sports.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dispatcher: [crackling over radio] All right, 1-10, this is Dispatch. Do you copy?
Officer: This is 1-10. Go ahead.
Dispatcher: What's your 20, 1-10?
[no reply]
Dispatcher: All right, 1-10, what's your 20?
Officer: We're right around the corner, Marianne. What do you need?
Dispatcher: We've got a 4-1-5 at 68th South Corbine Street.
[police radio chatter continues indistinctly]
Dispatcher: All units. There's a 211 in progress. American Bank. Suspect is driving a white sedan. I repeat. Suspect is armed and driving a white sedan.

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Crazy Credits

Jade Healy is credited as Wallpaper Whisperer!

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Connections

Referenced in CTV National News: Episode dated 6 August 2018 (2018)

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Soundtracks

Lola
Written by Ray Davies (as Raymond Douglas Davies)
Performed by The Kinks
Published by Abkco Music Inc. & Unichappell Music Inc. on behalf of Davray Music Ltd
Courtesy of Sanctuary Records Group Ltd
By arrangement with BMG Rights Management (US) LLC

User Reviews

Interesting true story, but lacklustre execution

'The Old Man & The Gun' is Robert Redford's final acting role. It's not quite a fitting finale - he's great as Forrest Tucker, the aging bank robber, but the overall film fall's a little flat. Based on a true story, most of his exciting adventures and prison breaks are glossed over, in favour of him finding late-life love with (Spacek). He can't curb his compulsion to rob banks however, and it assisted by Teddy (Glover) & Waller (Waits), but underutilised.

Detective Hunt (Affleck) is the Texas cop out to catch him - we also spend unnecessary amounts of time with his home-life. The chemistry between Redford and Spacek is good, and he's still as charming as ever. Affleck plays an exhausted cop as almost too dreary. Instead of seeing any heist planning or prison breaks (besides a montage), we instead get Redford and Spacek talking in a diner, walking, or making tea.

Thankfully, it's a quick 90min film, but the pacing and action could've been much better. Tehre's some chuckles, but nothing hilarious. You're better off re-watching 'The Sting'!