Stand Up Guys
Fisher Stevens
In The Expendables (2010), a bunch of ageing action stars were assembled together for a pleasantly B-grade outing. Stand Up Guys brings together a couple of ageing wise guys, but to lesser effect.
Val (Al Pacino) is released from jail after 28 years and is picked up by his former partner Doc (Christopher Walken). Val wants to live it up by partying with booze and women and Doc obliges him.
They later spring their old getaway driver Richard (Alan Arkin) from a nursing home and proceed to raise a ruckus. Meanwhile, the clock ticks away as Doc has a mission to accomplish by 10am.
There is some humour milked from the fact that they are all getting on in years. When two of them break into a pharmacy to get some “boner pills” for Val, Doc casually picks up refills for his meds for various ills.
However, there is not enough tension to propel the movie forward and the dialogue is not deadpan enough for a black comedy.
Having assembled veteran actors Pacino, Walken and Arkin, director Fisher Stevens cannot decide whether this is The Bucket List (2007) for tough guys or a more conventional gangster flick. A missed opportunity.
(ST)