I definitely like the title since it works well out of context and even better in context. This film on the whole is a pretty fun one. Some moments can drag a bit which does keep it from reaching the next level but all in all you should have a good time. It’s a fairly unique film since you don’t see too many about old people just hanging out.

The movie starts with Joe, Al, and Willie just hanging out on the bench as they always do. Joe has had enough of this though and tells the others about his brilliant plan to make their lives more exciting. They need to rob a bank and get rich so they can do all kinds of fun things. All their lives they have made ends meet and have had a good time but that’s about it. At this point if they are caught they will go to jail and live a comfortable life there or if they succeed then they can do whatever they want. His two friends are very skeptical but Joe gets them on board. In a way the real trick will not be in escaping from the bank with the money, but in keeping their freedom after that!

I would say the main positive in the film is the humor. The characters have a lot of fun banter and the humor is kept rather subtle and not super in your face but it works out well. The main characters have a good attitude about them and it’s easy to root for the group. The film has a pretty positive vibe overall there and so even when there isn’t a whole lot happening, you’re still having a good time here. Now the film does get more and more serious as it goes on so depending how you take the scenes it can throw a really somber tone onto the whole thing.

At the end of the day though, the characters got to have their big adventures and spice up the life a bit so I’d say it was really a win/win in the end. None of their lives ultimately got worse for it and so it was good. For that reason though I would have shortened some of the emotional scenes a bit and had the film keep up its quick pace. Those are the only scenes that could drag on a bit and of course that’s because it is the emotional center of the whole thing but even so I think you could have side stepped that a little bit.

The heist is pretty quick but made for a fun scene. You can definitely see how any heist can quickly turn violent as all it takes is one guy to try playing the hero and then the main characters would have to choose whether they shoot or get taken in. There’s no easy scenarios there which is why in the end it’s never good to steal. Of course in the film this is played off more as a fun thing but ultimately it doesn’t take away from the characters basically becoming criminals here. It may have spiced up their lives but it wasn’t the right thing to do.

As the brains of the operation Joe is definitely the best character here. He’s always coming up with the plans and is a very determined character. I feel as though the other two would have cracked if put into the same situations that he was in. Joe always stayed strong though and did his best to help everyone out. He wasn’t selfish about any of this and always put on a brave face even if he wasn’t doing well. He had all the makings of a true hero.

Al and Willie were really followers compared to Joe. They went along with this plan but if he didn’t say anything then they would have been content on the bench. In a lo of ways they are more laidback as a result. They don’t have grand ambitions and they don’t miss the things that they never got to try. Still, they’re good sports about the whole thing and the plan is absolutely more fun when it’s all 3 of them. I don’t think you could do as much with just one persona nd of course there would be a lot less banter that way.

We do get a rather long side tangent into the casino which doesn’t really affect the plot much. It was a good way to see them having some more fun but that one you probably could have added a little more variety too. It did subvert my expectations the whole time though since I was expecting things to go very badly for them. So in that way the film did use the tension very well.

Writing is key for a film like this because on its face the plot won’t sound all that exciting. This film is about day to day life and not end of the world type events. So if the writing wasn’t all that good then this film would be boring in the best case or awful in the worst case. That’s not a problem here which works out but I wonder if the new version would really be all that good. I’ll definitely be curious to see someday but yeah they did a good job with this one.

Overall, Going in Style could have been reworded to Going Out in Style but the former is a little more subtle while getting the same effect so it makes sense. To enjoy this film I think you really just have to have fun watching the characters just hang out and do things they’ve always wanted to do. It makes for a fun viewing even if my bucket list items would have been way different. Forget the casino, that’s never been all that tempting to me. I’d have gone to different food places around the world or something like that. Now that would have been exciting!

Overall 6/10