Stand Up Guys - Lionsgate

Is it worth $10? Yes

It seems that these days it’s a rare thing when you can find an interesting movie that can naturally blend humor and heartfelt sincerity. "Stand Up Guys" succeeds at doing that and has a few surprises up its sleeve along the way.

Val (Al Pacino) is an aging “ex” criminal just released from a long prison sentence. His friend and ex-business associate, Doc (Christopher Walken), takes Val into his home and helps him enjoy his first night out; celebrating the many freedoms he missed while he was incarcerated. Unbeknownst to Val, Doc (who has long since retired from his criminal activities) has been forced into one last job by their old boss. Poor old retired Doc has until the next morning to kill his best friend Val or they both end up getting the ax by their sleezeball ex-boss.

On their way of living it up and partying hard, they decide to look up their old buddy/driver and partner-in-crime, Hirsch (Alan Arkin).  Breaking him out of an old folks home, the three take on a night filled with shenanigans, including car theft, a brothel, overdosing on erectile meds, and dispensing some old school justice on a new generation of thugs.

Stand Up Guys - Lionsgate

Walken and Pacino interact in a way that feels natural and effortless. These two really seemed like a couple of old buddies meeting up after years of being apart, then going out on the town as if they never separated. At first, the cast (especially Pacino and Walken) seemed very aged. I was worried that the humor would be skewed to all senior citizen jokes but, while there is a fair amount of that type of humor, there is also plenty of fresh comedy and dialog for all generations to appreciate.

The only person I would have enjoyed seeing cast in the movie is Robert De Niro. He just belongs in that group, in that type of movie. I think he would have been a perfect fourth member to the old time threesome. In some areas, the movie may seem a bit slow to some action movie goers, but my attention was kept throughout and I was easily able to get a good understanding of where these characters were in their lives and how they got there. Yes, they have all done some very bad things (they even still tend to make some highly immoral and illegal choices), but they have a code and rules they follow. That alone gives them a positive edge (and likability) over the dirt-bag thugs of the current generation of criminals.

“Stand Up Guys” makes you laugh while tugging at your heartstrings, but not so much that you want to start weeping in your popcorn. So, if you are looking for a multi-generational film and you want to (as Val would say, "… chew gum or kick ass…”) then go watch this movie. Leave the gum at home and have a kick ass night!

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keyboardmaster said:

	... I agree, it will be a kickass movie night! I hope Mr. Walken will tell a story in this movie.
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January 30, 2013
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ShadowZant said:

	... So glad to see a good review for this. I've been wanting to see it ever since I saw the trailer along with Argo recently.
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January 31, 2013
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nawabo said:

	... I did not watch this movie on purpose didn't think it would be any good but thanks for the review now I will go watch it
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January 31, 2013
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donson181 said:

	... I loved this movie but then again as part of the baby boomer generation I feel some attachment to it and suspect the younger audience wold not get a lot of the dialog Pacino still has it!
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February 01, 2013
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Newtoy55 said:

	... Very good movie and worthy of paint the 10 to see
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February 12, 2013
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OrlandoSean said:

	... Piece of crap dull boring not funny predictable stupid lousy POS flick. You should fire your reviewer for liking this one joke told over and over again snoozefest.
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February 13, 2013
Votes: +0