Going In Style Movie Review

Going in Style is a movie about what lengths three former employees, who became life-long friends while working for the same steel manufacturing plant, would go to change the course of their lives.  After learning his home was in foreclosure, the Company was planning to move overseas and their pensions were being taken away, Joe (played by Michael Caine) had an idea to rob a bank--the same bank he had been in during a previous successful robbery.  He figured he and his buddies, Willie (Morgan Freeman) and Albert (Alan Arkin)  could steal enough to keep them financially secure until their deaths---which between the three of the was estimated to be less than 15 years.

With the help of his dead-beat son-in-law, who ran a Marjuana Shop, and a surprise criminal, the trio set out to prepare for the big heist.  I won't give anymore details about the movie but I will tell you it held my interest throughout.  I'll also tell you that if Morgan Freeman had not been in the movie, I probably wouldn't have gone to see it.  I personally think another older white actor could not bring the same flavor as Freeman did.  (The same goes for when he co-starred in Last Vegas with Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro and Kevin Kline).    

Many baby boomers and post boomers, especially from the Midwest, can relate to this movie because it relates to real life circumstances.  Manufacturing plants were a thriving livelihood 30-40 years ago but then Companies and jobs started moving overseas.  According to a report by CNN, almost one in three tons of steel sold in the U.S. was produced outside the country in 2015.  To make matters worse, the world has been flooded with inexpensive Chinese steel, with U.S. imports rising as high as 68 percent.  And pensions, which used to be funded by the employer at 100 percent, have been replaced by 401Ks, which employees have to contribute to.  So the people in this movie would more than likely by the type of people Donald Trump would've appealed to.  

If there was one negative about the movie, I would have to say it was the choice of some of the music.  There was a blend of Sinatra style, old school R&B and hip-hop.  I didn't particularly care for the hip-hop, although it seemed to flow well with the particular scene at the time.

Another delightful surprise was seeing Ann Margaret in the film---and she looked absolutely fabulous!

Overall, I give this movie at B.  I wouldn't go see if again or buy it for my DVD collection, but I'm glad I saw it at the theater.