Why I watched this movie? Huge fan of both Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. This was the 84th Caine and 64th Freeman movie that I have watched.
What is this one about? Lifelong buddies Willie (Freeman), Joe (Caine) and Albert (Alan Arkin) decide to buck retirement and step off the straight-and-narrow when their pension funds become a corporate casualty.
My thoughts on this one? Three generations of my family went and saw this movie together. All three generations really enjoyed the movie….NOT just the older of those generations. Going in Style consistently drew laughter from the people in the theater. The screen chemistry between the three leads is simple awesome! You will believe that this trio have been friends and bickering with each other for 40 years.
Yes, there are some plot turns that are hard to swallow. The most glaring involves a baby doll and the little girl that owns that baby doll. Many scenes shown in the trailer are nowhere to be found in the movie….which tells me there is a much longer version of this movie out there.
Another positive is nice supporting roles for Ann-Margret (the love interest) and Christopher (Where have you gone?) Lloyd. The movie is directed by Scrubs’ Zach Braff. I have now seen and enjoyed all three of Braff’s directed movies….and look forward to his next one.
Luckily this one does not follow the George Burns’ Going in Style of the 1970s scene for scene. Having now seen both movies….I can easily say this is one of the few times the remake/reboot/re-imaging is better than the original. Finally thought: A fun movie that has legendary stars and is worth checking out.
Ranked 43rd of 66 movies on my Morgan Freeman Movie Ranking Page. www.ultimatemovierankings.com/morgan-freeman-movies/
Ranked 50th of 92 movies on my Michael Caine Movie Ranking Page. www.ultimatemovierankings.com/michael-caine-movies/
Ranked 22nd of 38 movies on my Ann-Margret Movie Ranking Page. www.ultimatemovierankings.com/ann-margret-movies/
Glad you liked the movie. I might see it next weekend.
HI BRUCE
1 Glad you got to see the movie. Watching Sir M or Morg on his own is a treat but the two of them in the one film with Arkin thrown in for good measure – Wow! it’s certainly a must movie for the scholar of serious acting just as with hindsight because we didn’t appreciate it at the time Mumbles, Pacino and Duvall all sharing scenes in Godpop is another one for the acting classes to view repeatedly. Certainly when Sir M and Morg are are their best it is compulsive viewing so I look forward to seeing it and forming a personal opinion.
2 Yes it is irritating when one is not quite sure if billing represents ‘status’ or order of appearance. Even professional reviewers have voiced that quandary about the 1966 movie The Professionals. Burt is billed first on all of the posters but Lee Marvin rides up first on the screen and is named as he is doing so and the question has therefore been asked if Lee’s name coming first on screen was an order of appearance thing or if it was a ‘compromise’ that Burt had conceded to Lee because the Lancaster name came first on all of the posters.
3 I suppose we could always write and ask Sir M about the situation with Morg. Actually in the early 60s the ABC film chain over here had its own monthly film magazine and its lead critic was a guy called Peter Noble. I was puzzled by Stewart being billed first on Liberty Valance posters and the Duke coming first on the prints of the movie that circulated in this country so I wrote to Peter Noble about the matter and he did reply explaining to me that the split billing was a compromise that Wayne and Stewart had agreed with the prodding of John Ford.
3 A lot of your stuff has had a great influence on me so I am glad I have been able to return the favour in a very limited way by making you sit up and take notice of billing. I bet that before I appeared over the horizon you would not have cared less about the billing in a Sir M film as long as he was IN it. No mistaking who was top dog in the 1963 Its a Mad Mad World which though it had a host of important stars in it such as Mickey Rooney, Milton Berle, Ethel Merman Sid Caesar and Phil Silvers the billing on the posters was “Starring Spencer Tracy and in alphabetical Order—–” I remember standing in the queue for that movie with a fellow amateur film buff and he looked at the poster and said to me “It would seem that as long as Tracy was billed first it didn’t matter about the rest of them.”
Hey Bob….the billing I noticed last night when I was seeing this movie. First of all…there are no opening credits. At the end…when they do have credits…Morgan Freeman is the first actor shown….but when the final credits start rolling…Sir Michael is the first name shown. It is possible it is a “In order of appearance” credit….but it does not say that. Anyway….as I was leaving the theater….I thought “Bob will be happy….because I was paying attention to the billing order”.