This movie is basically a Bruce Willis romance movie (with Ms. Parker playing the fetching distaff role– you will remember her from West Wing among other appearances), with stellar supporting cast. And what a supporting cast it is—- Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Ernest Borgnine (who knew he was still alive), Richard Dreyfus, and we could go on.
The movie is worth seeing, just to watch the interaction between various of these folks. Malkovich is especially effective in his eccentric role— in fact if he could be given an Oscar for most excellent performances in a quirky role in the same month (see the review of Secretariat on this blog). He fully deserves it. It is the star cast of this movie and a few excellent scenes which prevents it from being called RED in a different sense— that is Retired, Extremely Dull (writing). There are script and plot problems along the way, to say the least. And the dialogue could have used a good infusion of Mr. Sorkin’s wit and punch. Honestly, I would rather have seen him write a winning script for this movie than for the sad and narcissistic Social Network. But I digress…
For an hour and 51 minutes we are regaled with a story of a retired CIA dude (Bruce Willis), living peacefully in Cleveland Ohio (Why would anyone retire there—- maybe he was in the former agent protection program???), who is desperately lonely, and enjoys talking to a very bored Mary Louise Parker who answers complaint calls from the likes of Willis about late pension checks. Unfortunately for Willis, somebody wants him, and for that matter all the major stars in this movie, the whole old gang, D.O.A.
I have to say, that Parker is in various scenes excellent, and a lot of fun in this movie—- but she doesn’t have enough air time to let her character fully develop. Indeed, no one but Willis has enough face time in this movie to really develop a character, which is a perennial problem when you put too many stars in the same movie. Someone is going to get short-changed, and in this case its several Oscar winning actors and actresses.
The scene with Parker tied to the bed and duck taped up in a hotel in Nawlins however, is hilarious, and Freeman at the nursing home is alright as well. We could use more jocularity in this movie, rather than too many examples of ‘let’s blow something else up, using massive overkill’ which at best produces the occasional wry smile. Satire is fun and fine, but when its all in the ‘bang for the buck’ and not in witty script and interesting plot, it wears thin before too long.
It is clear that the producers of this movie watched the Oceans film, tried to figure out the formula (interesting locations, numerous stars music that underscores the comic nature of the movie) and then went out and did their best to imitate it, with a little James Bond thrown in for good measure (i.e. Helen Mirren and her Russian former lover).
If you are willing to suspend your disbelief for a full two hours, and settle for a few good laughs and scenes, and interactions, this is a movie you may enjoy, but in fact it could have been so much more WITH SOME ZINGED UP DIALOGUE AND AN ACTUAL PLOT. When we learn who really is behind the plot to kill the whole old gang….. even in a satire, one has to say…… ‘Oh come on now…….’.
I left the theater wanting more, not in the sense of wanting more of what I actually was served up in this movie, but wanting this movie to be so much more, and the sad truth is, it could have been in better hands. I’ll bet you a bean burrito this movie does not produce a sequel. We live in hope, at least……
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