Sometimes there are these movies where you see just one still and you are excited to watch it. A couple of months ago a set photo of Christopher Walken and Al Pacino appeared which was on my desktop for a while. It showed Pacino walking weirdly and Walken with his pants higher than they should be and i thought it was hilarious. I didn’t read anything else about the movie as that single image sold the movie for me. My expectation was that i was going to be entertained. It’s a shame I wasn’t.
The movie is about two former hitmen/gangsters Val (Pacino) and Doc (Walken). Val has been in jail for years and has finally served his sentence. He gets picked up by Doc and the two catch up on old times. Since Val has been in jail a long time he has to get up to speed to the modern world as not everything works as it used to. That’s also the case for his body and a lot of time in the movie is spent on making jokes about it, for example when they visit some prostitutes. They meet up with another former getaway driver, played by Alan Arkin and the three go on a final night out to do the things they always wanted.
Since this is a comedy you’d expect there would be a lot to laugh about, but there wasn’t a lot I found funny. There were way too much “look we are old, need viagra and not everything is like it used to be” type of jokes. I never felt any chemistry between Walken and Pacino and didn’t really could care much for there characters. Arkin however steals the show in each scene he’s in. Instead of seeing Stand Up Guys, it’s better watch real stand up guys, they are way funnier. A totally forgettable movie, which is a shame which such acting talent involved.
I had heard some bad things about this one and you confirmed it. It’s such a shame to waste such a strong cast.
Yeah, I really had high hopes for it and they were crushed…
This movie didn’t do much for me, except just remind myself that these three cast-members have really fallen from grace. Maybe more so for Pacino, than Walken and Arkin who seem to be using old-age to their advantage. Nice review Nostra.
Yeah, it really did, didn’t it. Arkin still was very charismatic, but personally I wasn’t as impressed by Walken.
Have only previously heard the name and didn’t realize who was in it. Think I will avoid though…
Well, you should decide for yourself, but I won’t be suggesting you to watch it 😉
Love the cast and like the idea but it sounds like the producers made the fatal mistake of thinking if they assembled such great actors everything would work regardless. Thanks for the warning Nostra.
Well, we’ve seen before that doesn’t work, especially in the collaboration Pacino and De Niro have done outside of Heat