Stand Up Guys (2012)
Stand Up Guys is marketed as a comedy, but it’s actually a dark film. Al Pacino, just released from a thirty-year stretch in prison, is greeted by his old pal, Christopher Walken, who has been hired to kill him. If Chris refuses, he’ll get killed by mob boss Mark Margolis. How is this funny? The answer is simple: Noah Haidle’s script makes fun of old people.
In the grand tradition of “old folks still got it” films, this one says, simply, that they don’t. Interspersed with the incredibly dark premise are scenes that make fun of older men not being able to perform in the bedroom. First of all, it’s not funny. Second of all, why would anyone want to watch a movie in which the testosterone-filled Al Pacino gets belittled and laughed at for needing Viagra in a whorehouse? And when Alan Arkin joins the gang, the audience is supposed to laugh themselves silly that he’s a real ladies’ man, which is also insulting. For a film with a title that means camaraderie and loyalty, this is hardly respectful of its leading actors and the main audience demographic: older viewers who remember the cast in their prime.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to violence, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.
More Al Pacino movies here!
In the grand tradition of “old folks still got it” films, this one says, simply, that they don’t. Interspersed with the incredibly dark premise are scenes that make fun of older men not being able to perform in the bedroom. First of all, it’s not funny. Second of all, why would anyone want to watch a movie in which the testosterone-filled Al Pacino gets belittled and laughed at for needing Viagra in a whorehouse? And when Alan Arkin joins the gang, the audience is supposed to laugh themselves silly that he’s a real ladies’ man, which is also insulting. For a film with a title that means camaraderie and loyalty, this is hardly respectful of its leading actors and the main audience demographic: older viewers who remember the cast in their prime.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to violence, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.
More Al Pacino movies here!