The Old Man & the Gun

"It becomes apparent very early on in the proceedings that, for all that his fourth film is based on a true story, writer and director David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, A Ghost Story) is more interested in stories than truths this time around. It’s not just the opening title card that proclaims “This Story is Mostly True” – an early throwaway shot of children whitewashing a fence indicates that, like Mark Twain before him, Lowery is engaging in a very American brand of mythmaking – he’s retelling the legend of the Great American Outlaw."

"Summation, farewell, tribute—whatever you want to call it —David Lowery’s The Old Man & the Gun eases Robert Redford’s 60-year movie career to a disarmingly laid-back, sweetly nostalgic close."

"Instead of going big and giving Redford some bombastic swan song, he crafts a gracious exit that simultaneously feels like an encore of sorts."

"The cat-and-mouse of Lowery's film is just reason enough to contemplate the shuffling everydayness of life, of how we are ever aware of its finality while also tending to, seeking out, and appreciating the little joys, mercies, and adventures of it."

"At a time when bluster, bragging and histrionic displays of self-pity are apparently the defining characteristics of American manhood, it's nice to be reminded of the virtues of discretion and quiet."

"It would require a true curmudgeon to not derive pleasure from that twinkling performance from Redford, radiating smoothness, wisdom and charm to the very end."

"Thank goodness, then, that, if this is indeed to be his last hurrah, The Old Man and the Gun is a near-perfect send-off."

"Robert Redford robs banks and steals your heart. And whether David Lowery's exuberant gift of a film reps his final bow or not, Redford gives a virtuoso performance that feels like a valedictory. You want to salute him."

"Every single moment of The Old Man & the Gun just made my heart sing."

"A puckish film with a wistful quality, a gently comic end-of-the-line adventure about doing what you love, the passage of time and the things that might have been."

"If this sounds a bit like Hollywood glamorization of a career criminal, so be it, especially when the old man is played by Redford, whose full head of hair, alert mental antenna and nimbleness would put to shame many men decades his junior."

"...a fantastic swan song for a great actor..."