Caine, Arkin, Freeman will have you laughing in ‘Going in Style’

If you know anything about movies, you won’t confuse the 1979 film “Going in Style” with the 2017 film of the same title.

The 1979 film starred Art Carney, George Burns and Lee Strasberg — yes, three old guys who hold up a bank for kicks. The newer film version stars three old guys — Michael Caine, Alan Arkin and Morgan Freeman — and there is a bank heist, but, in my mind, the nuts and bolts of this version are more compelling than the original.

The trio are lifelong friends living off their company pensions. But when the company moves its operation overseas, it reneges on its pensions, and the three are left in dire financial straits.

The bank is about to foreclose on Joe Harding’s (Caine’s) house which will leave Joe, his daughter and granddaughter homeless. Willie (Freeman) is dying of liver failure and needs a kidney transplant but doesn’t have insurance to cover the cost and has not disclosed any of this to his friends. Al (Arkin) already sleeps on a lounge chair at Willie’s house — so he is already financially stressed.

After Joe falls victim to a bank robbery while he is there to plead his case for leniency regarding his mortgage default, he decides a robbery might be the trio’s only hope of financial salvation. Furthermore, not only does this bank hold a balloon mortgage on Al’s house, it is also the same institution that is holding the reins on the dissolution of the trio’s pension fund. Double whammy.

The three decide they need a trial run to see if they can actually carry out a heist. So they choose the local supermarket to see if they can pull off what amounts to shoplifting a lot of groceries. Therein follows a hysterical skit as the old guys try to conceal the ingredients for a chicken cordon bleu (which Al is planning for dinner) in their jackets and down their trousers.

All this is caught on video and witnessed by the store security guards. Following a wonderful chase scene in a motorized handicap grocery cart, the three are brought before the manager who lets them off with a stern warning.

Obviously, the three need professional help. Joe turns to his deadbeat, pot-selling, former son-in-law Murphy (Peter Serafinowicz) for criminal references, since Joe thinks Murphy is likely to have contacts with the underworld. Murphy refers his father-in-law to Jesus (John Ortiz), who runs an animal shelter as a legitimate operation but also shows the old guys the ropes on how to rob the bank and make a perfect getaway.

On Heist Day, the three show up at the bank sporting Rat Pack masks — Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. In the middle of the heist, Willie suffers an episode and is almost unmasked by a 5-year-old girl. So things don’t necessarily go according to plan, but the three make their initial escape.

Bumbling FBI Agent Hamer (Matt Dillon) is on the case and relentlessly pursues the robbers.

Willie ends up in the hospital, and Al and Joe finally learn of their friend’s dire health concerns.

In the meantime, Al has hooked up with Annie (Ann-Margaret), a very tenacious grocery clerk who has long had her eye on bedding Al. You will simply have to see the rest of the film to find out what happens to the men.

This is a delightful film that will have you laughing if you just let the mood and spirit of the movie take you. It is fine for film critics to make light of the performances of old men who have been shuffled into less-than-epic films. But there surely is a place for this kind of humor from a cast as talented as this. You will be amazed at how gorgeous Ann-Margaret looks (by my calculation she will soon be 76 this month — we should all have the same artistic surgeons).

Christopher Lloyd (Doc in “Back to the Future”) is flakier than ever, suffering from an advanced case of dementia with hilarious results.

A quick review of what can happen to aging stars might make the critics less caustic with their reviews. Remember Bette Davis in “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau became grumpy old men. John Travolta (“Grease” and “Saturday Night Fever”) became Edna Turnblad in “Hair Spray.” Maggie Smith is “The Lady in the Van.” So just because a few older stars decide to turn their talents to something less than Oscar material, we should give them a chance. Do see “Going in Style.” There are some fabulous one-liners that will certainly have you chuckling, if not laughing out loud.

This story was originally published April 13, 2017 at 7:57 PM with the headline "Caine, Arkin, Freeman will have you laughing in ‘Going in Style’."