OLD GUY (2025)

One problem with Old Guy (besides its clunky editing) is that from just hearing the title and knowing it was about a hitman (and what film isn’t about hitmen/women these days), I surmised (just about) the entire film. To be fair, had it been titled Old Man, it would have conjured up images of a seriously capable, yet retired spy/elite soldier who must come out of retirement to rescue his daughter from a sex slave-traffickers scenario. But Old Guy? Hell no, this is not gonna be that dark and brutal; no this is more of a Danny-Glover-too-old-for-this-shit type movie. One look at Christoph Waltz on the movie poster told me to bet money on a slightly pathetic gun for hire who’s about to feel the heat of an up-and-coming Gen Zer ready to put him out to pasture. But wait! What’s this? The old guy has some old gas in the old tank…and well…yes that is the film in a nutshell. Or is it? I am humbled to admit that this film, although predictable, managed a few surprises, mostly by way of the interesting relationships and characters brought to life by the cast. Waltz, Lucy Lui and Cooper Hoffman save a dullish script from being an utterly bad movie. It feels a bit like one of Guy Richie’s poorer outings, involving a mobster turf war that our threesome is warily caught up in. Thankfully, the trio bring spark and humility to their characters. Waltz is not at all convincing as a hardened contract killer, instead he makes the part much more interesting with an unwieldy charm. He plays well off Lui, who brings identifiable reluctance as a lovelorn friend, and though Hoffman doesn’t exactly embody a psychopathic prodigal hitman, his painted nails, pink jackets and aversion to alcohol make for another atypical character. Again, it’s not exactly what I thought it would be, but it also kinda is: a so very old and tired genre, that’s not entirely set in its ways.

WATCH OR NOT: WATCH

Additional musings: Waltz is so talented I will watch him in just about anything (clearly). He’s a stellar villain, and yet parts like this highlight his range and it’s a delight to watch him carry even an homdrum film.