bkoganbing Lee Strassberg when he wasn't being the king of crime as Hyman Roth in The Godfather Part II decides to dabble in it along with his two elderly friends George Burns and Art Carney in Going In Style. This film was impeccably cast. Strassberg we know, but Carney made his big screen bones with a Best Actor playing an elderly man in Harry And Tonto. And George Burns managed to extend his career decades with an Oscar for The Sunshine Boys and a slew of jokes about how old he was.These three play elderly friends who in their declining years are having trouble making ends meet. Getting into that bracket myself I can certainly sympathize. But I'm not a nimble as these three and I doubt I could pull of bank robbery which these three decide is their solution to a cash flow problem.They actually execute a good robbery, but they are amateurs.Going In Style turns deadly serious when the strain of things kills two of them. The third survivor is the one in real life actually known for his unflappability. Other than the leads the only character given any depth is that of Charles Hallahan playing Carney's nephew who does a fine job.Going In Style on the strength of its elderly leads has some serious things to say about old age and how rough it can be. But the message is given wit and charm by its script and performances.

blanche-2 Three elderly roommates on Social Security decide to rob a bank in "Going in Style," a 1979 film directed by Martin Brest. It stars three great masters: George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg, who is probably more famous as an acting teacher.These three spend their final years sitting in the park, watching children play, the birds, and occasionally talking. Joe (Burns) comes up with the idea, and the other two go along. Wearing Grouch Marx disguises, they walk into the bank with guns and tell everyone to hit the floor. The bank manager thinks they're joking until Joe shoots the clock.The big problem the guys have is, what are they going to do with all the money? They don't really need it for anything.The performances in this film are marvelous, particularly from Burns, who has the largest role. He can make you laugh and break your heart. In one scene, when Al's (Art Carney) nephew and his family take Al to their place for a few days, Joe sits alone and looks at his old photos. A very touching scene.All of these men demonstrate the emptiness of old age when one feels he is no longer useful, when most friends and family are gone, when you're not sick but not well either. Life becomes a series of endless days. On the other hand, they take each day as it comes and something like a bank robbery doesn't intimidate them too much. They've seen it all; there aren't too many surprises left.There actually is quite an age difference among these three men. Burns was 83 at the time of the film's release; Carney was actually 22 years younger, and Strasberg was four years younger than Burns. Strasberg is obviously the most frail. He died three years after this film was released.Sweet film, showing again that old age isn't for sissies.

ShadeGrenade At the end of 1979, the movie-world's attention was focused on the sci-fi blockbusters 'The Black Hole' and 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture'. Slipping out virtually unnoticed was this delightful movie, proving yet again that big budget does not always mean better entertainment.'Going In Style' starred George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg as three pensioners whose lives consist of feeding ducks in parks, watching television, and reminiscing about the past. Joe ( Burns ) is thoroughly bored by this, and comes up with a plan to generate some excitement - namely rob a bank. He is dead serious, and talks the other two into going along with him.They pull the job ( wearing old suits and joke-shop masks ) but the excitement proves too much for Willie ( Strasberg ) - he dies of a heart attack.Joe and Al ( Carney ) fly to Las Vegas to splash their loot in an orgy of non-stop gambling. To their astonishment, they nearly clean the place out. When Al dies after the trip, Joe decides to give himself up...Burns had not acted in years when in 1975 producer Ray Stark cast him as one of Neil Simon's 'The Sunshine Boys' ( Walter Matthau being the other ). Burns' quiet, dignified performance contrasted greatly with the more flamboyant Matthau's, and he won an Oscar for 'Best Supporting Actor'. Other movie roles came his way, such as the title role in Larry Gelbart's wonderful 'Oh God!'. 'Going In Style' featured him along with two other Hollywood greats, and all worked together superbly. From the hilarious opening scene in the park, where an obnoxious little boy fixes Joe with a look of dumb insolence, and he says the boy's head 'looks like a china p### pot' you cannot help but love the guy. The excitement the men feel as they prepare for the robbery is infectious; at last they have something interesting to do with what is left of their lives. You root for them every step of the way.This was the first film from Martin Brest, who later made Eddie Murphy's 'Beverly Hills Cop' and the disastrous 'Gigli'. It is a shame he did not do more like this.'Style' is by turns funny and sad. A better movie on the subject of old age I have yet to see.

oyason George Burns, Art Carney and Lee Strasberg play Joe, Al and Willie, who are three septuagenarian guys who decide to live life in the fast lane beginning with a twilight bank robbery one sunny day. They succeed in snagging thirty-five grand in cash, and up the ante in a number of interesting ways. GOING IN STYLE afforded three outstanding actors with a real script, which takes the absurd situation all of we in the U.S. are headed for- an old age in which all one does is viewed as extraneous to "real" life- and turns it a into a bittersweet drama. This is a film about criminals, but the kind of crooks anybody will root for. After all, at the end of the day, we're all hustled one way or another. Sometimes all life is is a choice of poisons, as in "name yours". It's an interesting fantasy to think that, as we approach our inevitable end, we could find one last thrill that jolts the complacency of the comfortable in this culture. This storyline works. And can you follow headliners like Strasberg,Carney and Burns? Like, Forget it. This ninety minutes is tight, tight,tight. Or, as some say, it's the old school, the "old stuff", and in spades. GOING IN STYLE is documented proof that old age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill. See it and laugh, and weep.