Going in Style

The way to a surefire hit: remake a 1979 Art Carney/George Burns old man film using actors who’ve been reduced to life support in the likes of Michael Caine (Secondhand Lions), Morgan Freeman (The Bucket List) and Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine), and then fill the movie up with grandkids and a sassy former hotlips actress like Ann-Margret! But what may seem rote and routine is anything but in this Zach Braff comedy where Joe (Caine) is facing foreclosure when his pension is suspended, and decides to recruit his lifelong pals played by Freeman and Arkin to knock over his local branch to recoup his loss, giving whatever extra money to charity and friends! The true brilliance lies, though, in the casting of Christopher Lloyd as an Alzheimer’s community leader so he can reconfigure his Taxi role as an aged weirdo! Matt Dillon appears as the FBI agent in pursuit, playing much the same role he played in Wayward Pines!

[PG-13]