The Old Man & the Gun (2018)

I haven't seen enough of his films to consider Robert Redford as one of my favourite actors, but I really like him. So of course I had to see The Old Man & the Gun, a heist movie starring Redford in his alleged last performance before retirement. 

The film tells the true but fictionalized story of Forrest Tucker (Robert Redford) and follows him after his audacious escape from San Quentin at the age of 70 as he continues robbing banks with the help of two other old men, Teddy Green (Danny Glover), and Waller (Tom Waits), falls in love with Jewel (Sissy Spacek), and is pursued by rookie detective John Hunt (Casey Affleck).

The biggest issue I had with The Old Man & the Gun was the plot. It is simply too thin —nearly non-existent, to be honest— to support the running time, hence the film is filled with unnecessary things such as John Hunt's life subplot —it is only distracting. Frankly, I don't understand the need to give Hunt a family since he wasn't married nor had kids, while in the film he is in an interracial marriage. The "issue" isn't even addressed so I don't really get the point— and scenes that add nothing and ends up being tedious and unengaging. It does, however, work as some sort of meditation on life and what it means to find joy in the small things, and I think it's the kind of story that makes for a fitting farewell.

The characters are a little disappointing too. Without much of a plot, the film needed solid characters but unfortunately, they are nearly as shallow as the plot. Most have a nice characterization and development, but the relationships between them aren't developed very well and because of it, they don't feel genuine. The romance between Tucker and Jewel being the only exception because Redford and Spacek have amazing chemistry.

Fox Searchlight Pictures

The acting arguably is the best bit of The Old Man & the Gun. Robert Redford gives yet another charming performance as he brings to the screen another likeable character. Sissy Spacek steals the show as Jewel, giving a very charismatic and moving performance. Danny Glover and Tom Waits do a nice job as Tucker's partners. Elisabeth Moss, who makes a short appearance as Tucker's daughter, also does a good job. The only false note is Casey Affleck who is basically playing himself and mumbling his way through the movie —if it wasn't for the subtitles, I would have missed most of the stuff that came out of his mouth.

Overall, The Old Man & the Gun was quite disappointing. While the ending is wonderful and the acting more than solid, the story is just too slow and dull. Definitely not the farewell an actor such as Robert Redford deserves.

Four Christmases (2008)

When I picked the Christmas movies I'd watch this year, I left the 22nd out as I was supposed to watch Aquaman on the 21st. Turns out they moved the release date to January 1 because of the new Mary Poppins movie —I hope it flops with all of my heart— and I found myself short of a movie. Four Christmases is the first I stumbled upon, I saw it had Reese Witherspoon —believe it or not, I like her— and I went with it. 

The film follows Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon), a couple who met in a bar around Christmas who has managed to avoid spending Christmas with their families for the past three years by going on heavenly vacations. This year, their plan fails as all the flights have been cancelled and a television news crew interviews them revealing to their families where they are. Having no way out, they are forced to spend time with their families, which means four Christmases the same day since both Brad and Kate parents are divorced.

I don't think I need to point out how stupid the plot is. Actually, doing that would require the film to have a plot and Four Christmases doesn't have one, it's just a sequence of random-ish events that serves as a vehicle for "jokes" and that ends in the most predictable way possible. 

Just like the plot, the characters too lack depth and any sort of development. Neither Brad nor Kate are likeable leads, and the fact that Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn has no chemistry sure doesn't help to make you root for their relationship. And I found it tremendously annoying that Brad and Kate are such out-of-the-box people, both against marriage and kids, and then, all of a sudden, Kate wants it all and, five seconds later, Brad wants it all. If anything, an experience like theirs would make me give up on the idea of having kids for good. 

New Line Cinema

As for the supporting characters, they are a wide variety of weird, odd characters. The problem? There's too many of them so none really stands out. Also, they aren't likeable at all, and having big actors —Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Jon Voight, and many more— playing them doesn't help one bit.  

Neither the plot nor the characters are Four Christmases's biggest problem though, the humour is. The film is filled with idiotic, childish jokes that are just too stupid to be funny, Vaughn's sarcasm barely works here, and the gags are very generic and not funny at all. I must have chuckled something like one time while watching this film.

Carrie (1976)

Stephen King's Carrie has been on the shelf, waiting for somebody to read it, for decades (my mother bought it in the 80s and never read it). It was February when I finally decided to read it and, being a King fan, I found it rather disappointing. It wasn't terrible but it sure wasn't great either. I still decided to check out this movie because Brian De Palma directed it and Sissy Spacek plays Carrie, and, like just the book, it was disappointing. 

Brought up by her religious fanatic mother (Piper Laurie) almost in isolation, Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) is a shy 17-year-old whose classmates constantly makes fun of. When she gets her first period, she is teased by the girls more than before and the gym teacher (Betty Buckley) disciplines the girls severely. One of them, Sue Snell (Amy Irving), feels sorry for her so she asks her boyfriend (William Katt) to take Carrie to prom instead of her. Christ Hargenson (Nancy Allen), on the other hand, is determined to have revenge and, with the help of her boyfriend (John Travolta), starts plotting against Carrie. But Carrie has telekinetic powers and messing with her won't be a smart move.

It's not like there's something smart about Carrie though, especially the plot. If there's something the novel and the film have in common is that both have a mediocre to say the least plot, but while the book was beyond boring at the beginning but it got better as I kept reading, the film started well, it was interesting and engaging, but as the plot advanced, it became so tedious.

Also, the film feels more like a teen romantic drama than a horror. I get that the source material wasn't that good, but how did Brian De Palma manage to turn a horror into a barely scary teen movie? And how did he manage to ruin the scene where Carries gets the bucket in the head? You know it's coming, but if there's something King did in the novel is deliver tension and suspense there. De Palma failed and the main reason is that the scene is dragged on for too long and loses its effectiveness. And I was expecting more blood.

United Artists

I wasn't a big fan of the music either. It was effective at times but when that Psycho-like music came on when Carrie was using her powers to do things just didn't do for me. The effects are excellent but only if you keep in mind this is 1976 and they are not that scary.

That being said, there's still something that makes Carrie worth watching, the acting. Though she is too beautiful and skinny to play Carrie, Sissy Spacek gives a hell of a performance, she captures the character so well that you feel empathy for Carrie, just like in the book. Another outstanding performance is delivered by Piper Laurie who plays Carrie's mother with a fantastic manic energy.