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The Old Man & the Gun
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Wikipedia article
'The Old Man & the Gun' is a 2018 American biographical crime film written and directed by David Lowery, about Forrest Tucker, a career criminal and prison escape artist. The script is loosely based on David Grann's 2003 article in 'The New Yorker' titled "The Old Man and the Gun", which was later collected in Grann's 2010 book 'The Devil and Sherlock Holmes'. The film stars Robert Redford, Casey Affleck, Danny Glover, Tika Sumpter, Tom Waits and Sissy Spacek. Redford announced his intent to retire from acting at age 82 after completion of the film; it is his penultimate appearance, preceding 'Avengers: Endgame'.
The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on September 28, 2018, by Fox Searchlight Pictures. It received generally positive reviews from critics and, at the Golden Globe Awards, Redford was nominated for Best Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
Plot
Career criminal Forrest Tucker, a wanted man for two years since his daring escape from San Quentin State Prison in 1978, has just robbed another bank. While evading police, the 74-year-old charmer comes across a woman on the side of the road with car trouble and stops to give the appearance of assisting. The ploy works as moments later, police drive by without noticing him. The woman, Jewel, who is grateful for his help, buys Tucker lunch at a diner. Despite introducing himself with a fake name, Tucker becomes drawn to Jewel to the point of revealing that he is a bank robber. The two later spend time together on Jewel's farm where Tucker becomes enamored of her and her life. Tucker makes a plan to pay off the rest of Jewel's mortgage as a surprise but becomes frustrated after the bank tells him that this would require Jewel's signature on some documents, negating any surprise.
Tucker goes on to conduct a string of heists, often without having to draw his gun from under his coat. Dallas Police Detective John Hunt compiles police sketches from witnesses who describe Tucker as charming and gentlemanly. Hunt then displays the sketches on the evening news, asking anyone with information to come forward. Shortly afterward, Hunt's investigation is taken over by the FBI.
A woman named Dorothy comes forward stating that she is Tucker's daughter. Although he is no longer on the case, Hunt agrees to meet with her. Dorothy says that she was born while Tucker was in prison, making Tucker unaware of her or his grandchild. Hunt is led to Tucker's former lawyer who says that Tucker has never pulled the trigger of his gun. According to his lawyer, police reports of Tucker firing during a standoff are false as it was simply his car's engine backfiring. Later, during a night out with Jewel, Tucker happens to recognize Detective Hunt, who is with his wife Maureen. Tucker tries to boost Hunt's confidence but becomes unnerved when Hunt calls him by his real name, "Forrest", indicating that the recognition is mutual.
Later that evening, police attempt to capture Tucker as he arrives home. He flees but again his car backfires, prompting police to shoot at him, striking him in the arm. He eludes them and makes his way to Jewel's farm. As it is the early hours of the morning, he decides not to wake Jewel and instead takes one of her horses for a ride. Tucker had never ridden a horse before, and this was on his list of things he wanted to do. While riding, several police vehicles come down the road and turn onto the farm's property. Tucker resigns himself to surrendering and does. When Jewel visits him in prison, Tucker gives her a list of his sixteen previous escapes from reformatories and prisons, but line number seventeen is left blank. On Jewel's advice, he remains in San Quentin until the end of his sentence.
When Tucker is released from prison, Jewel is there to pick him up. She takes him to her farm and sets up a room for him, telling him that he can stay as long as he likes. Sometime later, Tucker tells Jewel that he is going out on an errand. He calls Detective Hunt from a streetside payphone, and after some brief banter, Tucker sounds distracted when Hunt asks him if he is ok, Tucker says "I'm about to be", then hangs up the phone and walks into a bank across the street. A title card states that "Forrest Tucker robbed four banks that day. When he was finally caught, the officers on the scene noted that as they arrested him...[pause]...he was smiling."
Cast
Production
In October 2016, it was announced that Robert Redford and Casey Affleck had joined the cast of the film, with David Lowery directing from his script. James D. Stern, Jeremy Steckler, Dawn Ostroff, Redford, Anthony Mastromauro, and Bill Holderman served as producers on the film under their Endgame Entertainment and Cond Nast banners, respectively. Rocket Science handled international sales. In March 2017, Tika Sumpter, Sissy Spacek, Danny Glover, Tom Waits, Elisabeth Moss, and Isiah Whitlock, Jr. joined the cast of the film. In April 2017, Keith Carradine was added as well.
The film was shot on Super 16 mm film. Principal photography began in Dayton, Ohio on April 3, 2017. Fort Worth, Texas was also used as a primary location for several scenes, giving the film an authentically Texan atmosphere, according to Lowery. Other scenes were shot in Bethel, Ohio; Bellmead, Texas; Waco, Texas; and Newport, Kentucky.
Daniel Hart composed
the film score after working with writer/director Lowery on three previous films. The soundtrack was released on Varese Sarabande Records.
Release
In March 2017, Fox Searchlight Pictures acquired distribution rights to the film in the US and UK. It had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2018. It also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2018. The film was scheduled to be released October 5, 2018, but was pushed up to September 28, 2018.
Home media
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the film in the United States for digital download on January 1, 2019, and on DVD and 2-disc Blu-ray package on January 15, 2019.[https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Old-Man-and-the-Gun-Blu-ray/219082/ The Old Man & the Gun Blu-ray] | United States | Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD | 20th Century Fox | 2018 | 93 min | Rated PG-13 | Jan 15, 2019 The UK DVD and Blu-ray on April 1, 2019.[https://www.theartsshelf.com/2019/03/06/the-old-man-the-gun-releases-on-digital-download-vod-dvd-on-1-april-2019/ The Old Man & the Gun] on Digital Download, VOD & DVD on 1 April 2019 The Blu-ray home release has eight special features including deleted scenes, audio commentary with the director and filmmaking conversations with Redford and Lowery.Reception
Box office
The film was given a limited release in North America on September 28, 2018, and a wide release October 9, grossing a total of $11.3 million. It was also released in the United Kingdom on December 7, 2018, grossing $791,192 and Italy in December 2018 grossing $1.4 million.Critical response
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "A well-told story brought to life by a beautifully matched cast, 'The Old Man & the Gun' is pure, easygoing entertainment for film fansand a fitting farewell to a legend." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".Clint Worthington of 'Consequence of Sound' gave the film a "B+" grade, saying: "Just like Tucker can't help but chase the thrill of an outlaw's life, so too the audience gets hooked on Redford's effortless presence, and the airy, ethereal joys the film presents." Todd McCarthy of 'The Hollywood Reporter' wrote: "The film makes plenty of mileage from trading on the charm of a good bad boy, and Redford's long experience in playing such roles serves him beautifully here; he knows by now he doesn't have to push his attractiveness to be ingratiating." Peter Debruge of 'Variety' described the film as "a reminder of everything Redford has given us over the years," and Eric Kohn of 'IndieWire' gave the film a "B+" grade, saying: "Ultimately, the movie is a giant, lovable metaphor: Tucker's criminal preoccupations are such a natural part of his life he seems as if he could keep at it forever, no matter the impracticalities, and he becomes an ideal avatar for Redford's own achievements."
Accolades
Notes
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References
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