Review – Going in Style
Going in Style is Ocean’s 11 for people in the AARP crowd. It is an amusing, quirky, lighthearted film with a stellar cast that is incredibly predictable, yet mildly enjoyable.
Desperate to pay the bills and come through for their loved ones, three lifelong pals, Joe (Michael Caine), Albert (Alan Arkin), and Willie (Morgan Freeman), risk it all by embarking on a daring bid to knock off the very bank that is taking their money.
The dynamic trio of Caine, Arkin, and Freeman would be top-notch for any movie. Combined, the three actors have fifteen (!) Oscar nominations and four wins, all with a gold statue to their name (Caine has two of them). With a wicked combination of great acting and perfect chemistry, the three carry the entire movie, each bringing something different to this friendship. Caine brings the heart to the group, Freeman brings a sly, relaxed attitude, and Arkin brings a blunt honesty that everyone needs. Arkin stood out the most for me, having the best one-liners and his character being the most interesting. But I would watch these three do anything. There is a scene at the beginning of the movie where the three men are playing bocce ball in a park and I would have been content with that being the entire movie.
The plot is one we have seen a million times before and doesn’t really add anything new. We are essentially watching this movie to see how three 80-year-old men can pull off a bank robbery. Until that heist happens, we get enough side stories to keep us busy. One of the guys cares deeply for his grand-daughter, one is sick, they’re all broke and get no sympathy from anyone, and they’re watching some of their friends fall into senility. But there are some fun ones, too. I was particularly a fan of Albert’s new found love life with a grocery store employee (a wonderful Ann-Margaret) and when the guy’s go for a test-run and try to rob a grocery store, which offered up few laughs. The heist itself is cool, but the events that happen after are similarly cliché like the rest of the movie.
Going in Style is a breezy, predictable, amusing movie featuring three great actors. This is a perfect movie to watch with your grandparents or on a Sunday afternoon when you’re mildly hungover.
MY RATING – 2.5/4
Did you see Going in Style? What did you think? Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook by searching Kevflix.