GOING IN STYLE
US, 1979, 94 minutes, Colour.
George Burns, Art Carney, Lee Strasberg.
Directed by Martin Brest.
The style of its three leads is what this slight comedy has going for it. They make quite flimsy material - old men sitting daily in a park plan the simplest bank robbery and do it - quite humorously. If only they had robbed another bank instead of going to Las Vegas and relying on gambling and luck comedy. Still, there are some good laughs and engaging performances by George Burns, still with excellent comic timing in his mid-eighties, Art Carney with his verve and drama teacher Lee Strasberg with his forlorn expressions. Some points are made about care of the aged, but this is a vehicle for its three stars.
1. An entertaining comedy? The qualities of humour, parody? A vehicle for its stars and their styles? A robbery film, gambling success film? The quality of the production and its entertainment value?
2. The performances of the stars - their particular comic styles, their blending? The title and its reference to them? To old age and dying - with wealth?
3. How well did the film treat thews of old age, the meaning of life, the enjoyment of life, death?
4. The establishing of the three old men - their sitting in the park, desultory conversations, the kiddies and their reactions to them, their being bored? Their routines, walking home, life at home, conversation, memories, meals, getting up during the night, sleepless nights, their lining up for Social Security cheques? How well did the film communicate this boredom of routine and the plight of the aged?
5. The humour of the idea for the robbery - lining up in queues for the cheques, seeing all the money? The presentation of the idea, the various reactions? The discussions, the comedy sequences of the buying of the masks, the choosing of the bank, A1 getting the guns and the testing out of the bullets? The robbery itself with its comedy routines and parody of so many robbery films of the '70s? The ease in getting away - the taxi and the elaborate plan, the subway and the train?
6. How well did the film delineate each character and allow the comedian star to communicate his style? George Burns and his presence, comic timing, the telling of his story, his memories? His surviving the other two? His being the leader? Art Carney and his comic verve, song and dance routines - the dancing with the group on the city streets, his way with the kids, his friendship with his nephew and his wife? The visits, the grief at his death? Lee Strasberg and his serious appearance - his being alone, slow, his rather sad expressions? His fears about the robbery? His participation and ultimately enjoying it? His death after enjoying it?
7. The focus on funerals and the reaction to death?
8. The decision to go to Las Vegas - the humour about travelling in planes, the long gambling sequences and their tone, the return and Al's lying down and dying? Going in style?
9. George Burns and his giving the money to Pete? The various conversations with Pete - Al's and his explanation of the loan, George Burns and the final benefit?
10. The arrest (and its lack of explanation), the interrogation and George Burns' defiance? The plan to go to prison and be supported, Pete's visit and the genial ending?
11. The quality of the comedy - its comment on issues, its using of popular genres with a twist with the old stars?
