What’s one more remake that no one asked for? And what if said redo is actually an OK movie that delivers on the same level as the original and achieves a similar result in terms of the charms, thrills and laughs of the first one? Well, that is exactly what we have with Going in Style.
The film is based on the 1979 classic Going in Style, which starred legends George Burns, Art Carney and Lee Strasberg. It followed three longtime friends who find they cannot live on their Social Security and decide to rob a bank. The 2017 version stars also-legends Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Alan Arkin (all three Oscar winners I might add) as a trio of pensioners who find that their company has squandered all their money and their bank has been more than willing to help them cover it up. With nothing to loose, they come up with a plan to rob their bank and only take the money they’re owed… just over $1.2 million.
What else sets the modern Going in Style apart is its director, Zach Braff. The actor, best known for his work on the often hilarious Scrubs, made a name for himself as a writer-director with the instant-classic Garden State and his lukewarmly received follow-up, Wish I Was Here. Both are firmly independent movies with a stamp that is clearly Braff’s. Going in Style is clearly different. If you’re looking to see a “Zach Braff movie,” this is not it. Yet, that being said… the helmer does an solid job at establishing good pacing, a fantastically fun score and enough character development that it has us pulling for three retirees to be successful in their endeavor… yes, to rob a bank!
Braff certainly has done enough with Going in Style to let the world know that if he wants to, he could be a pretty decent director-for-hire. There are certainly enough of those in Hollywood and Braff would fit right in to that world, should he so choose. Yet, we believe he wanted to tackle a heist movie with a twist. He sought to stretch his directorial wings and at the least he did that. At the most, Braff manages to make a remake that no one asked for, a pretty decent good time at the movies.
The big selling point here is the same as it was with the 1979 film, to witness three living legends in the same movie. Given that there aren’t a lot of parts out there for actors of a certain age (don’t get me started on actress over a certain age and a dearth of work), when a (remade) script like Going in Style comes along, one can see why there was such a push to get it made.
Freeman, Arkin and Caine are fantastic and make us truly believe that these three souls have been friends for decades. Their chemistry is palpable as they weave from moments that are emotional, sentimental, adoring and downright exciting (i.e. the heist and its aftermath). Caine is the stand-out, as he often is, and manages to prove yet again what a treasure he is for the entire world.
Will Going in Style find an audience? If Space Cowboys and the Exotic Marigold Hotel movies proved, audiences will turn out in droves to see living legends in the twilight years do their best to give us thrills, spill and laughs.
Grade: B-