For every Spoiler Alert I post, I will review this based on the following criteria:
- STORY - Is there a valid and well thought-out story to the film?
- ACTING - Was the cast choice correct? Did any particular actor stand out?
- DIRECTION - Did the film look good? Was the cinematography right?
- MUSIC/SCORE - Did the music or score supplement the film?
- LONGEVITY - Would this be a film you would watch again?
The synopsis for this film is as follows: A pair of aging stick-up men try to get the old gang back together for one last hurrah, before one of the guys takes his last assignment - to kill his comrade.
To break this film down, Valentine (Al Pacino) leaves prison after 28 years and is greeted by his friend and former crew member, Doc (Christopher Walken). Now out of the joint, all Val wants to do is party, so Doc takes him to a brothel but, unfortunately, old age has affected Val's under-carriage. This results in both Doc and Val breaking into a drug-store (or chemist as we call them over here in the UK) to obtain some viagra, which Val imbibes more than the prescription advises.
Following this, Val wants to rock out on the dancefloor of a local club, where he insults some moody teenage girls (they've obviously never starred in a Girls Gone Wild film), before apologising and asking one to dance. Here starts the first sentimental part of the film, as he makes no sexual advances, he merely dances as he would were he dancing with his daughter. After this Val does a few more drugs and passes out in Doc's car.
At this point the plot really kicks in, with Doc turning the music up in his car, taking his gun out, and deciding whether to kill Val. Thankfully, he decides against it and takes Val to hospital, where the nurse who admits him is the daughter of their third partner in crime, Hirsch (Alan Arkin), their former getaway driver, who they learn is now in a care home suffering from emphysema. Due to a major priaprism, the doctor injects Val's erection to reduce the blood flow.
Doc then takes Val for food at a local diner. There, the waitress Alex (Addison Timlin) dotes over Doc, and Val deduces that Doc has been ordered to kill him. Val says that if the tables were turned, he would not hesitate in killing Doc, as he knows failure to complete this task will result in Doc being killed. The back story here is that their former boss Claphands (Mark Margolis) sent his son on a job with Val, but was killed during it. As such, Claphands has put a bounty on Val ever since. In the end, Val accepts his fate and spends the next 9 hours trying to enjoy himself.
This leads to Val stealing a Dodge Challenger and kidnapping Hirsch from the care home for one more wild night out. Following a cross-town car chase with the local law enforcement, they hear banging coming from the trunk and find a naked woman inside. She had been kidnapped and abused by a number of guys, and Doc and Val decide to gain revenge. Busting into their place, they end up shooting a couple of the guys and tying them up, giving the woman a baseball bat and telling her she has at least 8 minutes before the police turn up. Lets just say she breaks a few balls at this point...
Having left Hirsch in the car as a lookout, Val and Doc come out to find he has passed away in the drivers seat. They visit his daughter and all of them end up driving him to a local cemetery where the give him a burial and bid him farewell. Doc then calls Claphands to beg for mercy for Val, but he refuses and threatens to hurt Alex, the waitress from the diner. At this point, it turns out that Alex is the long-lost granddaughter of Doc, who he has known about for years but never informed her, as her mother wanted her hidden from him. Doc then writes a letter to Alex and supplies his house keys to her.
As Val readys for the end, he spies a church and goes in to make his final confession. He then decides he wants to be executed in a new suit, at which point both him and Doc break into a suit store and steal some classy garments. Alex has made her way to Doc's apartment and he calls her there. He tells her he has paid the place for a year, and has left a shoebox full of money for her. Around his apartment are pictures of the sunrise, which he states he painted for her. He tells her he loves her, and she tearfully responds "I love you too grandpa". He says his goodbyes and leaves with Val.
Their final destination happens to be Claphands warehouse, and upon their arrival Doc and Val kill all of his guards and end up in a shootout with Claphands himself, who seems to run out of ammunition. However, rather than leave a definitive answer as to what happens, the camera pans up above the warehouse to the sunrise, which blends into one painted by Doc.
STORY
I have to give this film some props, as I thought that the story was only going to be about 3 old crew members getting back together and causing mayhem in this comedy/crime film. In the end, what I actually got was a very subtle blend of genres. This isn't really a comedy, nor is it really a crime film. The comedic value really only relates to two particular scenes - 1) Al Pacino having his erection drained, and 2) Alan Arkin driving like a crazy bastard. When you look at the crime aspect, aside from a mob boss who wants revenge and a small shootout at the end, there's really not much else. There are elements of revenge throughout (from the mob boss & his cronies, to the naked woman and her abusers), but it's not a revenge film.
Every part of the main cast has their back stories, and their current role, and this is a beautifully well written film, that caused me to genuinely tear up a few times. If you take the synopsis - best friend has to kill his recently released best friend - that alone is enough to keep me hooked. When you add in the back stories of those involved, it just adds to the story.
With this aside, I do feel that the only "far-fetched" scene in this film, is the burial scene. Would you really want to bury your father without notifying the proper authorities? Its not like he would have been arrested for anything, so why didn't his daughter reject the idea of Val & Doc & do things the way her family would want? It is a minor gripe, but it is enough to bump the score down slightly.
With that in mind, I give the story a 1, and this is based on the total plot, as well as the back stories of the main characters being so well written.
ACTING
You can't really go wrong with the two main leads here - both Al Pacino and Christopher Walken are veterans to this game, and both work wonders with the roles given. I have to admit that the back stories were well thought through, and Walkens interaction with his on-screen granddaughter were beautiful.
If you watch this film - and I hope that you do, despite the spoilers above - take note of everything mentioned, as it usually relates to a bit of story further down the line. An example of this is within the first 5 minutes when Pacino's character asks Walken's character if he located his daughter, to which he advised he did, but he never found his granddaughter, as she was hidden from him - then swerving us when you find out right at the end that the waitress is his granddaughter and he spends every day with her. It makes his goodbye to her all the more emotional. With that in mind, Pacino's character keeps the majority of his back story hidden, but the emotion he shows when he explains how Claphands son was killed, and that he was always expecting the day of his death to come, was sublime. Right at the beginning Pacino & Walken hug, but both find it awkward and move on. 90 minutes later, after all they have experienced and discussed, they hug again, this time both of them admitting the hug was right.
Alan Arkin had a reduced role in this, despite being billed on the poster as a main lead. However, his scenes were effective, and his antics at the brothel and in the car were quite amusing. However, I don't feel that he was in this film enough, but then again he wasn't really needed unless these three guys were due to pull off a big job - which I have to admit is something I thought would happen before watching this film.
Rounding out the cast was character actor Mark Mrgolis as Claphands, himself a veteran on screen since 1976. His gruff demeanour works well with the role given, and he had ample screen time to make his presence known (though this was always going to be just about Pacino and Walken, so any other screen time had to be rightly shared between the cast). Julianna Marguiles (formerly of ER) was brought in as Hirsch's daughter and, compared to other cast members that shared the same screen time, she didn't have much time to make this a worthwhile role (part of me thought she may even have helped the two leads out following the death of her on screen father, but that didn't happen). Then we have Addison Timlin as Alex who, aside from a few tv episodes and a couple of film roles, could consider this as a possible break-out role, as I found her to be very effective as Alex.
The cast for this film can really be counted on two hands, and there was just enough time for those involved to put across their story - any more cast members could have caused the film & story to be saturated and effectively ruin this.
With this in mind, I give the acting a 2 based on the work they did with the back stories and screen time given, especially to the 2 leads.
DIRECTION
This was only the third film that Fisher Stevens has directed, despite being in the business since 1981. For those that may not know who he is, he has starred in a hell of a lot of films, with the most notable being the lead villain in the 1995 film Hackers.
His work here was very well done, there were no flash cuts or quick changes that ruined the story, and the ending of the film whereby the shootout merges perfectly with one of Doc's sunrise paintings, leaving the actual ending ambiguous, was the perfect way to end this. The cinematography, lighting and all-round setup was faultless, and the entire film was beautifully well shot. Some purists may find certain issues; however I have never really got behind a camera personally, as I prefer the writing aspect, though as a writer I did envision moments in my head to determine how what I write can be imagined onscreen.
In view of this, I'm happy to give the direction a 2.
MUSIC/SCORE
This is the one section that is really going to differ between everyone, as some musical choices may not be to everyone's taste. However, I did note that one of the songs from this film - Not Running Anymore by Jon Bon Jovi - was nominated for an oscar.
I'm not entirely sure where this film is actually set, though it looks like it could possibly be New Orleans. If that's the case, then the songs in the film have been exceptionally well chosen, as a lot of them have that southern feel, bit of jazz, bit of funk, bit of soul. Plus this film had Hoochie Coochie Man by Muddy Waters, which is an amazing tune.
Whilst the musical choices may suit the possible Louisiana setting, the fact that these tunes may not be well known or appreciated by a younger viewing audience could hamper this, as this soundtrack - and the film itself - has definitely been produced for a more "mature" audience (I would say 30 upwards, and being 35 I can get away with saying that!).
With this in mind, I would obtain this soundtrack and, as this is based on my review, I am going to give the music/score a 1, as whilst being good, I could not see myself listening to this album again and again (there aren't many soundtracks that can actually make me do so), and - with the exception of a couple of tracks that worked well with the onscreen action/story - the rest seem to be just a more exclusive set of filler.
LONGEVITY
The big question is, would I watch this again? The answer is, yes. Though I don't think I would make this a genuine weekly viewing, as this would be more like the film you watch on a date night, or on a whim down the line. It wouldn't be a film I would rush out and buy on Blu Ray the day it comes out, but it's definitely a film I would obtain down the line.
Would you buy it? I suppose thats the next question. That really depends on what you want out of your viewing experience, especially with this being a mashup of different genres in one. If I go through my friends, I can honestly say that there won't be many that would. I think they would lose attention in this early on, at which point they wouldn't care about what they're watching, which would be a damn shame. You definitely have to pay attention and enjoy it for what it is.
For longevity, I will happily give this film a 1.
To summarise, I found this a fantastically written, acted, and directed film, but I know that the subject matter may not be for everyone, and my own admission that I would not but this straight away would affect the repeat watching. However, as an overall score, Stand Up Guys receives a Spoiler Alert overall score of 7 out of 10. This is definitely not a stinker and is well worth a watch if you have the time!
Thank you for taking the time to read this Spoiler Alert review, and I hope to have another one up either later today, or tomorrow. Please feel free to comment & let me know what you think of my review.
