OT: Caine, Freeman, and Arkin in "Going in Style" (NO SPOILERS)

Hadn't heard of this movie before (in either incarnation) ecarle.

Googling around I see that the remake adds a romantic angle (for Arkin with Ann-Margret no less). The 1979 version sounds grittier/tougher, maybe more my sort of thing. I'll have to check it out in any case just for Strassberg who was so great in Godfather 2 (Good career (I thought!): Be world famous in theatre for decades then appear in a crucial role in one of the greatest movies ever made. Drops mic. and exits the building... But, no, there are more film roles.)

I'll check out the 2017 version sometime too. As you suggest, Arkin, Caine, and Freeman have a lot of well-earned affection. I still haven't seen Caine's 'Old Codger does Death Wish' movie from a few years back, Harry Brown(?).

Arkin's got a great voice-over role these days on Netflix's brilliant, brutal/depressing, Hollywood-satire animation, Bojack Horseman. Highly Recommended.

My full disclosure here is twofold: no plans to make any effort to see the new one (I may check it out if it happens to turn up on HBO in coming months) and great affection for the original (which we re-watched some weeks back).

Avoiding spoilers, I'll say that while the '79 has downbeat aspects to it, it's not an adjective I'd apply to the film as a whole. As swanstep guessed, it does have that trademark '70s grittiness to it, and plays as neither comedy nor drama, although it's both plenty funny (but never shticky or punchline-dependent) and plenty serious (but never heavy-handed). What it does, it does in understated ways. The premise, sounding cute, intriguing and amusing, isn't executed in what came to be called "high concept" fashion. In tone, it's not dissimilar from another of Carney's late-'70s efforts, The Late Show (another for which I have great affection, and about which more in a moment), going for quiet humor rather than big laughs. In other examples of that understatement, the caper itself comprises the briefest part of the narrative, with the bulk concerning itself with preparation and aftermath, and two key dramatic moments are staged completely silently while photographed from a distance with long lenses.

Interesting about director/writer Martin Brest, whose entire feature output (from '77 to '03) numbered only seven; the five remaining after GIS could easily be called either "high concept," "shticky" or both (Beverly Hills Cop, Midnight Run, Scent Of A Woman, Meet Joe Black, Gigli). I didn't see the last, but none of the rest would hint at what to expect from GIS.

Interesting also to compare the casting: three pedigreed, longtime movie stars in '17 along with Ann-Margret, Christopher Lloyd and Matt Dillon in support; in '79, three non-movie-stars who had only recently been reinvented on the big screen with nominated and/or winning roles. In the cases of both Burns and Carney, I consider their post-Oscar work (Burns in GIS; Carney in the aforementioned TLS) superior to that for which they were awarded. No other recognizable names and only one perhaps-familiar face: Charles Hallahan in a very nice turn as Carney's son-in-law.

I can evaluate the new one only on the basis of trailers, clips and reviews, but it appears they've gone "high concept" with it: action sequences and zeitgeist-worthy invocations of pension-fund raiders and too-big-to-fail banks, as opposed to the appropriate-to-any-era simplicity of marginalized existences among widowed retirees. Following a title sequence in which we see (but don't hear) the three walking home from the market and presumably bickering over purchases and prices, we're presented with a typical, idle afternoon on a park bench, abruptly summed up by Burns: "I'm sick of this shit."

I hate to sound cynical and curmudgeonly, and maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised when I get around to the new one, but it all sounds so trendy and market-based in a funny-old-farts-kick-up-their-heels way, and between this, The Bucket List and Last Vegas, Freeman seems to be operating his own cottage industry.

Well, I'm getting to be an old fart myself, and you'd be kind to overlook that, but I really can pass on a hearty recommendation for the '79 GIS.

On Martin Brest:

Going in Style did earn him good notices. After that, he was slated to direct WarGames, but was replaced by John Badham (two weeks into filming, I think). Brest had been aiming for a tone that was deemed too serious by the powers that be. Nevertheless, he did have a crucial role in the making of the film, since he oversaw preproduction and casting (which is, may I say, terrific, with Broderick and Sheedy supported splendidly by John Wood, Dabney Coleman and Barry Corbin, among others).

He bounced back, of course, with Beverly Hills Cop, a seminal film in the action-comedy genre. It's interesting to compare it to Eddie Murphy's own 48 Hrs., released two years before: while the latter has comedic elements, it still feels mostly like a straightforward thriller (a Walter Hill movie, after all), whereas the former was clearly aiming to milk Murphy's persona as much as possible.

Brest was responsible for pushing for the casting of Charles Grodin in Midnight Run, another great coup, especially since he had to oppose the likes of Robin Williams and Cher. De Niro and him have wonderful chemistry, but even today it seems like an unlikely pairing, at least in concept-- the chemistry is not readily apparent, not until you see them together. But it really works, and the mere fact Grodin's talent and presence were put to such good use, with him being an unlikely candidate for the role, adds to the satisfaction of watching him and De Niro together. One of Grodin's best roles, and it allowed his career to continue at a reasonably good level in the next decade, until his retirement. The tone of the film is perfectly judged: it's funny, but it never allows you to forget for long the threat these characters are under. Wonderfully cast, down to the smallest role, and the script itself is marvellous: not a wasted line, and all the characters running around are utilized appropriately, coming in and out of the picture at the right moments.

Meet Joe Black is a fine film, in my view. I've had to opportunity to watch it several times over the years, and every time it's more engaging. A movie can be slow paced and fail to hold one's attention, or it can achieve that perfect rhythm that keeps one watching in a sort of hypnotic state. This one is the latter. It's kind of ridiculous to think it's three hours long, but it truly doesn't feel like it when you watch it. In its day, it made plenty of money, but contrasted with its budget, not enough. Still, in hindsight, it's interesting to think a near art film like it made such substantial dough.

I haven't seen 79's Going in Style, but from the clips I remember watching online, it seemed like a fairly serene, quiet, thoughtful and emotive film. Like Meet Joe Black, in fact. So it's interesting to contrast these films with others like Beverly Hills Cop and Midnight Run. On the surface, they seem so different. But I think the clearest connecting element between them is that great attention and care seems to go toward the characters. There are no caricatures. I think of Marvin in Midnight Run. At first he seems like a cartoon villain, but even he is humanized at several moments in the film. One can understand his motivations, and feel for him.

Gigli may have been a complete and utter bomb, critically and financially, but no film kills a director's career when he's reached that comparatively high level of success. Martin Brest doesn't work today because he doesn't want to work. From interviews and articles, I gather he just cared too much about his work to expose himself again to that sort of failure. In fact, I remember reading he was preparing for a crane shot in Beverly Hills Cop, and took the time to get off the crane solely to adjust Judge Reinhold's tie to his liking. Anthony Hopkins said something about him to the same effect. But he was liked, by Hopkins and others. In fact, Pacino appeared in Gigli as a favor to him. His crew on Midnight Run did walk out on him, as I recall, but I think that was because of his tenacity, rather because of any overly dictatorial or overbearing traits. From what I've seen of his work, I like Brest's artistic sensibilities: mainstream, but not generic. I hope he comes back some day.

I'm going to watch Going in Style and revisit Scent of a Woman one of these days (I can't recall much about it, to be honest). The latter will tie nicely with Pacino's Sea of Love, which I'm halfway through!