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Stand Up Guys Movie Review

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Written by Jonathan Jacobs

The gangsters played by Pacino and Walken are former best friends. Pacino's character has been released from an agonizingly long prison sentence. Walken is the only person that has shown his true quality as a friend by maintaining contact with him for years. Karmic forces have brought these two old friends together but with a sinister back story. Walken's employer, played by Alan Arkin, has ordered him to kill his best friend forthwith. Walken has every intention of fulfilling this command until the old friendship and bond of loyalty is rekindled. Arkin mistakenly threatens someone very important to Walken and this turns the tide in favor of the feisty Pacino.   

Pacino snorts crushed hypertension and cataracts pills with a bar room straw. This of course comes on the heels of having ingested a fistful of Viagra in order to perform with an Eastern European escort whose body seemed too luscious to resist. His character also dances with a young and sympathetic woman that gives him one last hurrah. The majority of the story occurs in a small restaurant in which Walken shares an inscrutable bond with the head waitress. Their story is revealed near the end of the film. Together, both men break into a suit store, disarm cameras, and steal from a local pharmacy. All in all, not a bad day's work!

Stand Up Guys (movie) lacks momentum. There are very few if any marveling scenes, and the dialogue though oddly sweet, is a total flatline. Al Pacino has aged considerably and should consider playing an age appropriate role in lieu of maintaining his old gangster's shtick. Christopher Walken has primarily realized his potential as a comedic presence. Reverting back to a more serious actor, Walken loses what appeal he still possesses. Overall, Stand Up Guys (movie) is a satisfactory picture, but it falls short of expectations movie fans will have for the union of Walken and Pacino, two of America's greatest but somewhat forgotten actors.

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