Going in Style – Film Review
Going in Style is directed by Zach Braff and stars three of the biggest actors in all of Hollywood, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Alan Arkin, and in this film, they portray three friends, that have been friends their whole life, and they attempt to
rob a bank, after their pension fund turns awry.
Listen, I was not excited to see this movie, I really wasn’t. Yes, there’s Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine in the movie, and both of them are amazing actors who have been in great movies. Freeman has been in The Shawshank Redemption, one of the best movies ever made, and Michael Caine has been in The Dark Knight trilogy, and others. But the reason why I was not at all excited to see Going In Style, was because usually movies that follow old people doing really dumb, and really stupid things that they should not be doing, I don’t tend to like. But honestly, Going in Style wasn’t even that bad.
Alan Arkin (left) as Albert Garner, Morgan Freeman (center) as Willie Davis, and Michael Caine (right) as Joe Harding in Going in Style (2017)
Easily, the best thing about this entire film, are the three main actors, Freeman, Caine, and Arkin. These guys in this film believe it or not, actually do portray funny characters. Quite a bit of the stuff they do in this movie, while quite silly, are actually things that I laughed at, and I was actually really surprised by that. I thought this movie would be a tortureous experience where I was begging to get out of the theater, but I actually had quite a fun time with the movie.
The story to this movie I feel is really weak though. It’s a movie about a couple of old guys robbing a bank, and that’s pretty much it. You are able to get behind some of the characters at times, but I was hoping to have more of an emotional attachment to them, but I didn’t.
And also, this won’t really be a comedy movie where 5 years down the road, people will be saying how it’s a classic comedy movie of the decade or something. It’s honestly just a fun, disposable, comedy movie that shouldn’t be taken seriously, because it’s a comedy
movie, and the movie’s main purpose is to make you laugh. It’s not meant to have this really insane and jaw-dropping story with extravagent twists – it’s a comedy.
A comedy’s purpose is to make you laugh, and to be honest with you, I did laugh quite a bit of times, at this movie, so it did succeed in what it was trying to do, and that is, make me laugh.
In-Summary: With exceptionally funny performances lead by legendary actors, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Alan Arkin, Going in Style surprised me in the long run with it’s comedic aspects, and made me laugh, which is the main goal of comedy.
Overall Grade: B-
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for drug content, language and some suggestive material
Cast: Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Alan Arkin, Joey King, Matt Dillon
Directed by: Zach Braff
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Running Time: 96 minutes