Going in Style : Movie Review


Going in Style (2017) - Movie Poster
Director: Zach Braff
Screenplay: Theodore Melfi
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Alan Arkin, Matt Dillon, Christopher Lloyd
Length: 96 minutes
Rating: 12A

Going In Style is now available on Digital Download, Blu-ray and DVD


Willie (Morgan Freeman), Joe (Michael Caine), and Albert (Alan Arkin) are lifelong friends who all worked together at a steel company. But when the company that they worked for has financial troubles their pension pot is used to pay the company debtors and the guys pension payments are cancelled. No pensions mean that they can’t afford their house payments and each of them is basically bankrupt.So they decide to rob the bank that is handling the pension pot - and to take only what they expected as pension payments - giving the rest to charity.It sounds like a simple plot but it takes the time to give each of the characters proper back stories, families and motivations for their actions, indeed it’s quite heartfelt and poignant. There are also a few interesting and rewarding sub-plots along the way.


Following the success of films such as Stand Up Guys (Alan Arkin) and Last Vegas (Morgan Freeman) all featuring older casts, it’s easy to see why this film would be greenlit into production.This geriatric buddy movie is much the same in that it’s funny, sometimes silly but always watchable. Its game cast of octogenarians poke fun at themselves but also supply a steady supply of laughs. It’s also really nice to see Christopher Lloyd onscreen again.


This film has taken a critical beating from some of the big reviewing outlets but you don’t put genuine stars like Freeman, Caine and Arkin together and get a terrible movie, no matter what anyone says. These guys are serious actors with genuine pedigree and even into their 80s they’re still putting in very decent performances - they’ve all got star quality.


Zach Braff handles the direction nicely. His post-Scrubs career as a writer director is going well and his had a hit with the film Garden State in which he starred alongside Natalie Portman. The direction is slick and the film moves along at a good pace.


We have to consider that Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Alan Arkin, Christopher Lloyd and others like Clint Eastwood and Jack Nicholson won’t be around for very much longer. They’ve always been amazing on-screen and it’s great to see these actors on screen despite their age and we should be grateful to enjoy their later-in-life films.

This is certainly a film that I’d happily watch again and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Author : Kevin Stanley