Going in Style (1979)

Directed by Martin Brest. Starring George Burns, Art Carney, Lee Strasberg, Charles Hallahan, Pamela Payton-Wright. [PG]

Three bored senior citizens living off pensions in Queens decide on a whim to stick up a bank, but the aftermath doesn’t go as any of them expected. Writer/director Martin Brest’s first commercial film is surprisingly sage and relaxed about its subject—finding purpose and peace during one’s twilight years—and benefits from the old-timers’ likable performances and the cranky warmth in their rapport. Aims for gentle laughs during the first act (and gets quite a few), pulls off the robbery with panache, starts tugging on the heart-strings, gets waylaid a bit with slack pacing and a couple of overlong scenes in Las Vegas, before regaining its footing by the bittersweet end. A small, easygoing gem. George Burns’ late wife, Gracie Allen, “cameos” in a photograph during a poignant episode. Remade in 2017.

76/100