Legend takes final aim

At 82 years young, veteran actor Robert Redford has declared that The Old Man & the Gun will be his last movie performance.

At 82 years young, veteran actor Robert Redford has declared that The Old Man & the Gun will be his last movie performance.

Fittingly, for one of the greatest movie stars of all time, Redford makes his exit with
a classy, irresistible display that will charm the socks off one and all.

In a funky, laid-back caper flick based on a true story, Redford stars as Forrest Tucker, an elderly bank robber with over 80 stick-ups and 16 prison escapes to his name.

Considering his advanced age, it is way too late to teach this old dog any new tricks. Forrest will be politely pointing pistols at tellers until the day he dies.

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Sissy Spacek and Robert Redford in the film The Old Man & the Gun.

In the midst of a multi-state robbery spree, Tucker and his creaky cohorts (played by Danny Glover and singer Tom Waits) attract the attention of both a Texan police detective, John Hunt (Casey Affleck), and an adoring general public.

It is the early 1980s, so the idea of a band of gentleman thieves amiably taking the banks to the cleaners without ever firing a shot or hurting anyone catches on quickly via the media of the day.

Shot on a warm, grainy and inviting super 16mm film stock, The Old Man & the Gun conveys the relative innocence of the era and the genial methods of Forrest’s small gang very enticingly indeed.

Redford modestly, yet effortlessly has us fall for his character, a loveable rogue whose heart has stayed in the right place in spite of a lifetime running on the wrong side of the law.

While the film can be a bit on the skimpy side when it comes to filling out Forrest Tucker’s extensive back story — and charge sheet — Redford has no trouble whatsoever capturing the reckless, yet somehow noble essence of the man. Helping out the leading man at a few crucial junctures is a wonderful Sissy Spacek. She plays Jewel, a wise, if not-so-worldly horse breeder who wants to get to know Forrest a little better. If he will only drop his guard.

This does come to pass over a beautiful collection of conversation-driven scenes enacted by Redford and Spacek with great grace, spark and feeling.

THE OLD MAN & THE GUN (M)

Rating: Three and a half stars (3½ out of 5)

Director: David Lowery (A Ghost Story)

Starring: Robert Redford, Casey Affleck, Danny Glover, Tom Waits, Sissy Spacek.

Going out with a quiet bang

Originally published as Legend takes final aim