The Old Man & the Gun (2018)

Score: 4 / 5

I can't believe it's over.

The Old Man & the Gun was announced as Robert Redford's final acting role before retiring, and it's a fabulous farewell to him. He's given a fascinating character and makes him sweet and funny and classy and more than a little badassy. And, really, the same could be said of the film around him. Director David Lowery works his usual magic to make an old-fashioned charmer of a flick that honors its leading man as much as it maintains integrity as a standalone picture.

Career criminal Forrest Tucker (Redford) and his "Over-the-Hill gang" have been in the business of casually robbing banks for many years. Around 70 years old, you might think they want to retire and find another purpose; perhaps they think so too. But Tucker is cut from slightly different cloth than his companions (played by Danny Glover and Tom Waits). Their string of heists continue to confound the police and dazzle the public; even their victims are outspokenly impressed by their gentlemanly demeanor, kindness, and sense of fun.

When Tucker meets Jewel -- a real treasure, we immediately understand, played by a magnificent Sissy Spacek -- we wonder if she will facilitate the end of his life of crime. Though he tells her his profession almost immediately, he plays it off like a joke; her suspicions she keeps to herself. They end up thoroughly in love with each other, in spite of his livelihood. In no less of a love story, hotshot detective John Hunt (I know, the names are overkill) grows increasingly obsessed with the gang and with Tucker in particular. Played by Casey Affleck, we wonder if Tucker is his ultimate prize or perhaps his ultimate aspiration; he seems to admire the criminal more than appropriate, especially when Tucker confronts him in a diner bathroom.

Lowery's skill behind the scenes has been proven four times now, each in slightly different ways but each to impeccable effect. He has a way of fashioning a mythic, folkloric tale without all the bells and whistles you might expect. His stories are at once entertaining and profoundly elemental, and their apparent simplicity is a clever guise to fool the masses. This movie, as his others, is fun and interesting, but able to take you deeper if you just let it.

Go for Robert Redford's farewell gift; stay for Lowery's unique brand of storytelling.