I like buddy-action movies. But take Al Pacino and Christoper Walken then spice it with Alan Arkin and voila, you have a treat that's upped the ante in this genre. They are funny, believable and entirely engaging, making the film work on several levels: (a) as pure entertainment (b) as a view on growing old and second wind (that's my own appreciation) and (c) as a look how values stand up to the tyranny of changing times.
The premise is locked tight, how do you kill your best friend?
Seems Val (Pacino) accidentally kills the mob boss' (Mark Margolis) son in a botched heist. After doing time, he walks into his best friend Doc (Walken) who had been handed the job to off him. But Doc is torn so he procrastinates, instead he shows Val a good time, hitting the brothel and finding time to rescue Hirsh (Arkin), a former get-away driver for the mob stuck in a nursing home with emphysema.
In a joy ride, Hirsh confesses to an item in his bucket list for a three-way (menage a troi) and they go back to the brothel.
In a joy ride, Hirsh confesses to an item in his bucket list for a three-way (menage a troi) and they go back to the brothel.
The trio finds a naked woman in the trunk of the car they jacked who had been kidnapped by a group of thugs. They decide to dispense justice. Hirsh, while waiting for Val and Doc in the get-away vehicle however dies suddenly.
Doc tries to talk the mob boss out of killing Val but fails. The mob boss threatens to harm Doc's granddaughter if he does not deliver the job. In the end the duo takes on the mob.
"Do we kick ass or chew gum?"
"I'm out of gum" Walken does a little dance as he replies to Pacino's question. Now, how could that miss?
Pacino, Walken and Arkin work on each other with good chemistry.
Initially disconcerting, a disheveled Pacino reworks his Scent of a Woman (Universal, 1992) role, a man who is cocky on the outside but resigned in the inside. I thought of throwing a molotov cocktail on the screen when it looked liked they were going for Scent of a Woman in that scene in a bar where Pacino asked for a dance. Thank goodness, it was not a tango.
Walken does this eye thing.
In this movie, the plot engages because of Walken's eyes.
There's the scene that really blows where Pacino washes his face and Walken stands behind him with a cocked gun. At first, the eyes (as I saw it) reflected resolve, then conflict.
Another one was in a bar scene where two guys of the mob boss approach the duo where Pacino was snorting prescription medicine. Walken didn't say a word but unflinchingly eyeballs the two with a most menacing stare. It was great.
Arkin plays it straight reacting to the other two. His character is another doomed guy just out to have one last party. As in Argo (Warner, 2012, Oscar recipient for best Movie) his role is short but sweet.
Mark Margolis as the mob boss, Claphands, we've seen in countless movies doing the same role but he does it well and comes out believable. Good job.
I like the touch about the painting of sunrise against the movies theme of lost causes.
Stand up Guys is a man's movie without that much violence but instead, lends a reflective view on self-conflict. The movie appeals because that's an everyday dilemma, maybe not to kill but whether to kick out an old friend because you can't afford it.
I have a few friends I spent a lot of time with who I don't see anymore, probably will not, not with our advance age. So, this one appeals to me.
Pacino, Walken and Arkin work on each other with good chemistry.
Initially disconcerting, a disheveled Pacino reworks his Scent of a Woman (Universal, 1992) role, a man who is cocky on the outside but resigned in the inside. I thought of throwing a molotov cocktail on the screen when it looked liked they were going for Scent of a Woman in that scene in a bar where Pacino asked for a dance. Thank goodness, it was not a tango.
Walken does this eye thing.
In this movie, the plot engages because of Walken's eyes.
There's the scene that really blows where Pacino washes his face and Walken stands behind him with a cocked gun. At first, the eyes (as I saw it) reflected resolve, then conflict.
Another one was in a bar scene where two guys of the mob boss approach the duo where Pacino was snorting prescription medicine. Walken didn't say a word but unflinchingly eyeballs the two with a most menacing stare. It was great.
Arkin plays it straight reacting to the other two. His character is another doomed guy just out to have one last party. As in Argo (Warner, 2012, Oscar recipient for best Movie) his role is short but sweet.
Mark Margolis as the mob boss, Claphands, we've seen in countless movies doing the same role but he does it well and comes out believable. Good job.
I like the touch about the painting of sunrise against the movies theme of lost causes.
Stand up Guys is a man's movie without that much violence but instead, lends a reflective view on self-conflict. The movie appeals because that's an everyday dilemma, maybe not to kill but whether to kick out an old friend because you can't afford it.
I have a few friends I spent a lot of time with who I don't see anymore, probably will not, not with our advance age. So, this one appeals to me.
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