Stand Up Guys (2012)

Absolutely brilliant

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Blistering performances.

We see two ex-criminals coming to terms with the past after one of them has been released from prison, leading to a final stand against another criminal. The two male main characters are somewhat one-dimensional and only bearable because they are enacted by experienced and charismatic actors. All other characters are as complex as the teletubbies- lots of beautiful women, but don't mind their names, they are just decoration for Pacino and Walken- not to mention the most ridiculous plot twists: A woman, after having been violated by a horde of criminals and kept in the trunk of a car, enjoys a happy breakfast among our friendly criminals before getting back on the perps-- in perfect style, of course. The young female owner of a brothel is talked into sex with a senior who dies the same night from senile decay, and has of course the time of her live. Another women just learns that her father is dead and agrees smiling to an unofficial and spontaneous funeral. Walken's grandchild needs exactly 30 minutes to relate to her granddaddy and build the deepest possible relationship. The list goes own, you get the idea. This flick is just a waste of time.

Definitely a comedy that uses the crime context as a backdrop. Pacino takes a 28-year rap and keeps his mouth shut. On the day he gets out, his best friend (Walken) is supposed to kill him - because the kingpin's son got in the way (terminally) of a Pacino bullet during the shootout that preceded his arrest. Otherwise he will die too. When he hesitates, the threat is extended to his granddaughter (who he has been watching over without her knowing who he is). That pushes him to the decision that will lead to a Butch Cassidy style end scene. But that is preceded by a Viagra stoked visit to a bordel, the springing of their get-away driver (Arkin) from a rest home, a wild drive in a stolen souped up coupe, the rescuing of a multiple rape victim and setting up her opportunity to exact revenge. There are also quieter moments that border on the maudlin but help to reinforce the sense of old cameraderie and a generation of criminals who have a sense of morality that is not shared by the younger generation. It is on that premise that my enthusiasm for the film falls down - I know it's an unjust world in many respects, but most of us are doing our best and equating criminals (who do not take from the rich to give to the poor) with morality is one of the things that undermines those efforts. However, those 3 great actors have earned the right to fulfill a few dreams of their own onscreen and they were never in the role category to be included in the Expendables retirement fund for former action heroes ;o)

I am really confused as to how anybody could have liked this film at all. Seriously. 15 minutes of it was all me and my girlfriend could take.There is so much wrong with this movie it's hard to know where to begin.First off, the dialog between characters is unbelievably boring and slow. To see this kind of work out of veteran actors was embarrassing. I'd swear Pachino was either doing it on purpose or he's had a stroke. Really awful.Christopher Walken was equally dumbed-down and wooden. We didn't even watch long enough to get to Arkin.Many times when watching a bad movie, the poorness of the story usually has unintended comedic quality for that reason alone. This picture can't even provide that.It's just random, confusing and completely void of any kind of rhythm or personality.Thank God I only paid 2$ for it the bargain store, because now my copy is going to the fine folks at GoodWill.No, scratch that. It will be thrown away. I can't in good conscious let some other sucker plunk down hard earned money for it.That wouldn't be right.

I'm sorry but this must be one of the best movies out there. I am writing the review too late; I watched it back when it was released and its been stuck in my mind since then. I just felt like reviewing this title but since its been 2 years, I couldn't remember the name of the movie, nor the names of any cast or anything (hell, I was seeing almost all of the actors for the first time back then). Believe me when I say I had to provide Mr. Google a ton of clues and bits that I remember for the movie for almost 2 hours before it could guess the exact name of the movie. Just for the record, I struck gold in the try where I gave these tags to google for guessing: Dodge Challenger, Surf n Turf, movie.Anyways, enough with the chit-chat. I watched this with my dad, and despite both of us being used to seeing only action movies, we absolutely loved it. Neither of us was able to figure out what exactly we loved in it, because it may seem like a slow movie to many without much action, and it actually is, but there was something (probably the direction?) which keeps you from yawning and more importantly, keeps you interested in the movie. Al Pacino was fabulous in his role. Walken was pretty much the only actor I was familiar with. But the bonding between them as friends and dealing with old age as ex-stick up kids was the main focus of the movie. I won't want to spoil the plot, but personally this a 10/10 from me. Definitely recommended.