THE OLD MAN & THE GUN - BFI London Film Festival 2018 - Day Four - Official Competition

In the words of Mr Phil, THE OLD MAN & THE GUN is "Wes Anderson directs Ocean's 80". What he means by that is that this is a wonderfully stylish, witty, smart caper film with a wry sense of humour and way too much charisma for its own good.  

The movie stars Robert Redford as the real life bank robber Forrest Tucker - a man so addicted to and made happy by robbing banks that he did it pretty much his whole life! Of course, he was also periodically caught by the cops, and so periodically busted out - not least in an audacious self-made small boat from San Quentin!  If the character sounds larger than life, Robert Redford looks like he's having an absolute ball in the role, and takes us along with him for the ride.  One of the funniest moments is when Tucker meets the cop who's trying to catch him - a wonderful Casey Affleck - and you can't tell if Affleck is laughing at the insanity of the encounter in character, or just at how much fun Redford is having for real. Add to this a super performance from Sissy Spacek as Redford's love interest and some truly authentic naturalistic performances from Affleck's character's kids, and you have a movie with a lot of heart.

Behind the lens, I loved David Lowery's sense of style and fun - his DP Joe Anderson's fluid, elegant camera-work, and a truly beautiful jazz-infused score from Daniel Hart. But to be honest, I can't single out everything I love because there's literally nothing I don't like about this film. In fact, it's one of my films of the year.

THE OLD MAN & THE GUN is rated PG-13. The film played Toronto and London 2018. It was released in the USA on September 28th 2018. It comes out in the UK on December 7th. 

RETURN TO SENDER

In which Rosumund Pike (GONE GIRL) plays a nurse who is raped in her house by a man (Shiloh Fernandez) who she thinks is her blind date. To the incomprehensibility of her father (Nick Nolte) she befriends this man in prison and even asks him to make amends by renovating her now unsaleable house. The twist at the end is straight out a Japanese ultra-violent revenge flick. The problem with this movie is that it’s filmed like a Hallmark Channel afternoon movie and paced with similar banality. It’s very much a workmanlike, obvious, sunlit movie. Rosamund Pike is just fine but it feels like the script isn’t giving her anything to do. We painfully and mechanically wind our way toward a very underplayed twist in the tale which isn’t really worth the candle. Revenge flicks can be done better - the plots don’t need to be any more complex. Just think how David Fincher transformed GONE GIRL into something truly creepy and brilliantly off the hook. If only the film had had the self-confidence to go big, or director Fouad Makiti (OPERATION: ENDGAME) and the cinematographer (can't find the credit on IMDBPro) had had the inspiration to do something edgy and tense with the visuals.

RETURN TO SENDER has a running time of 95 minutes. It is rated 18 for scenes of sexual violence.  It is currently on very limited release in the UK but is also available on demand.

AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS

AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS is a handsome but derivative drama from first-time feature director David Lowery. It owes all its award-winning cinematographical style and thematic concern to Terrence Mallick - at best a homage and at worst a pastiche.  It's all dappled sunlight across flowing wheatfields and a moody melancholic folk violin score.  There's the omnipresent voice-over and young lovers pitted against impersonal forces.  That the movie is for the most part well-cast is just a waste of talent.

The movie stars Casey Affleck as Rooney Mara as young couple Bob and Ruth living in the rural South.  Early on, they carry out a heist that goes bad and Bob takes the jail-time to allow the pregnant Ruth to raise their daughter in safety - their only communication doleful letters. Four years later, Bob escapes and makes the journey home pursued by bounty hunters, while Ruth is courted by the local sheriff (Ben Foster) and sheltered by Bob's father (Keith Carradine.)

The resulting film is slow-paced to the point of tedium. There are shoot-outs but this isn't a heist film. The emotional chords are stretched so far they snap and while nicely done, the film just feels sub-Mallick. To be honest, you'd more profitably spend your time re-watching BADLANDS.

AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS has a running time of 96 minutes and is rated R.   The film played Sundance, where Bradford Young won the cinematography award, and Cannes 2013 and was released earlier this year in the USA. It is currently on release in the UK, Ireland and Israel. It opens later in September in France, in October in Greece and Singapore, in November in Belgium, in December in Sweden and Turkey, in March 2014 in the Netherlands and Japan, in May in Spain and in July in Brazil.