At the young age of 82, Robert Redford has decided to retire from acting, with director David Lowery's The Old Man & the Gun being his final film with an acting role.
For a final film, it is absolutely excellent. It's a narrative that gives little information, but manages to tell you a whole lot about its protagonist. It takes the crime genre and spins it on its head by showing you what's normally portrayed as a villain, but instead has you connecting to that character, rooting them on and hoping they make it through each challenge.
In short, The Old Man & the Gun is about a group of elderly men that rob banks for a living, but they don't necessarily do it to make a living, they do it to feel like they're living. The aspect of crime and danger provides entertainment to them, but they're no ordinary criminals: they're smart, incredibly polite, and ensure that nobody is ever hurt during the robbery -- there's even a robbery in which nobody knows a robbery is even taking place due to the polite nature of the robbers.
Shot by A Ghost Story's David Lowery, and on 16mm film, the film comfortably depicts the time period its set in: a gritty, dark coloured 70's America in which society feels modernised, but not to the point where technology is capable of disrupting the business of criminals. Old fashioned police work is needed to string clues together, searching through hundreds of papers and reports in order to search for just who these criminals are. That minor piece of authenticity has the film filling in the gaps within the narrative, such as how these people haven't been caught yet.
The Old Man & the Gun is a film at its core. It focuses on character development and narrative. It comes and it goes, and it isn't afraid to leave you wanting more. It doesn't focus on huge action sequences, and the few it has are used to heighten the character development as we see a protagonist that isn't focused on escaping at any cost; he wants to be caught, he doesn't want to cause any harm to people, but he will do what he can to escape the grasp of the law. Even when he fails, he focuses on using his intelligence to escape from jail, once again ensuring nobody is hurt in the process.
Focusing on living
Removing the crime and the endless robberies, this film is purely about life. It's about enjoying the things that really get your heart going, even if you probably shouldn't be doing those things. It's about pursuing enjoyment in life and not letting others put you down. It's a film with true acting, true performance and true filmmaking behind it.
The film tells us that there is a space for all things in life. Whether it's a huge budget film, or a small independent film shot on 16mm film featuring an elderly man that robs banks. It's a special little gem that makes you aware of all the others that have came before it, and those that will come after. It's excellent filmmaking that shows the true beauty of the medium itself.
