Here you have a movie with three Oscar-winning actors in a movie together with Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Alan Arkin. Any movie with them together will possibly make for a good time, which could be what Going in Style could be before watching it.
After their pensions are canceled from the bank, three old retiree buddies (Freeman, Caine, and Arkin) plan to rob that very bank in order to get their money to pay their bills and be able to care for their loved ones.
This is a remake of the 1979 film with George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg. So I had no idea what’s been changed or not since I haven’t seen the original. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel after watching this because even though I love the leads, the story sounded too simple, in my opinion. But what surprised me was that Zach Braff directed this. Besides Scrubs, I’ve been a big fan of his first directed film Garden State. But can he and screenwriter Theodore Melfi (Hidden Figures) handle a comedy with these actors in a big studio movie that’s not an indie flick? Yes, because Going in Style wasn’t too bad of a comedy.
I’ve been a huge fan of this trio for many years, and though they’ve been working for many decades, sometimes they can easily phone it in for a paycheck. Not likely here. All of them were excellent in their performances. The three of the leads have very good chemistry with each other as I believed they been best friends for years. The scenes with them having conversations or watching The Bachelorette really made this entertaining.
There were a lot of funny moments here that I was surprised by almost all of the jokes hit. Didn’t think I would laugh more than four times, but it happened. Quite possibly the funniest scene is where they practice stealing and they go into a grocery store. And all of them made me laugh, especially Arkin. Also, nice to see Christopher Lloyd back in a movie where he had me laughing.
A couple of issues that come to mind with this is that it’s a little predictable with how sometimes were following along. And it started to stretch out right in the middle right when the heist started. While it was still fairly entertaining, it could’ve picked up some steam.
While nothing was too new for this caper film, it’s still fun. Nothing went dark as this went for a lighthearted tone throughout. It’s like a combination of Tower Heist and Last Vegas. For someone who already knew this wasn’t going to be for a demographic, this easily could be harmless and watchable for anybody.
With solid laughs with three legendary actors, Going in Style makes for a surprising and enjoyable funny comedy.
Grade: B
DC's Take 