Stand Up Guys (2012)

Disturbing yet enthralling

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It started a little slow. But as I watched I ready got into it.

As his acting career is reaching its final stages (not yet but soon) Al Pacino can still find many ways of reinventing himself in areas he's never been in before. Though his leading man days are behind him, Pacino feels there's still some fuel left in the tank that no one could tell him otherwise even by starring films below his talents like "Stand Up Guys" a character driven vehicle which would have been the type of film he would have dismissed about a decade ago. I feel he should performed in more of these character dramas by the end of the 1990's that way we wouldn't watch a legendary performer like Pacino slowly fade out his status a top box office draw. Still, there's no one who has the nerve to arbitrarily say it to his face.Pacino stars as Val, a petty crook who's been incarcerated for over 28 years and has now been released. The only person who greets him is his old partner Doc (Christopher Walken), only not with open arms, but with the task of taking his life assigned by their old accomplice Claphands (Mark Margolis). Claphands has revenge on his mind for Val was responsible for the death of his who aligned with Val while Val served nearly three decades behind bars and has vowed that on the day of his release, he will be whacked. Doc is now in precarious situation that if he doesn't do the task, he'll be killed never meeting his estranged granddaughter (Addison Timlin).For a script to work, it needs to be in good hands of a trustworthy scriptwriter who can where these characters are coming from and to refrain from focusing too much on the plot, especially since the three leads are in the 70+ club. Sadly, the script was written by the much younger, fresher playwright Noah Haildle who's making his feature length screen debut. Not to say the guy's got no future, but the film feels more theatrical than it does cinematic, plus there's no motives into what makes these characters tick. It's just saturated with too much talk and it feels very random and frequent and they say a lot without holding anything that sparks interest. Which makes this 95 minute film feel like a two film. The momentum is at a snail's pace.The story circles around the long hours of events prior to Val's demise as Val and Doc getting into some mischief as a ploy to stall the execution. Such activities include entering a whorehouse just to steal some Viagra, steal a muscle car, gathering another old comrade in crime Hirsch (Alan Arkin), saving a rape victim (Vanessa Ferlito) while leaving her to take revenge on them and to operate a bulldozer to bury Hirsch who died from natural causes. Sounds like a lot in one night! Right? With a full table like this had the makings of a great comedy caper along with the pathos and the sad scenes combined. Sadly, Haidle only merely scratches the surface of these scenarios.Sure knowing that the film stars three screen legends like Pacino, Walken and Arkin in the leads is truly worth a viewing, but that would be the only legitimate reason to watch this film at all. Arkin is the one who stands out the most here, such a shame he has the thinnest role. Sure the acting is great though it doesn't stick out and the finale has moments of intrigue, sadly the script and the snail pacing of this film made this long night all the more longer.

I am the kind of person who likes structured movies where all the cinematic elements come together. "Stand up Guys" is not one of those movies but I enjoyed it even more because of that. There is only one word to describe this movie: FUN. It is one of those movies that doesn't require much thinking about the plot or what is going on, it simply wants the viewer to enjoy each scene by itself and enjoy the great performances by three amazing actors. In this movie the plot is not important. The sole purpose here is to watch three of the best actors of a generation have fun at their jobs. The acting by all Pacino, Walken and Arkin is simply so amazing that the plot is just there to have an ending to the movie although I personally did not want it to end. While I like to analyze and evaluate movies in detail there is simply not more to say to this picture than enjoy! Enjoy every minute because it will be over in a flash. In conclusion we can say that this movie is simply about the art of acting and having fun and three great actors showing off their talent. If I could i would give it an 8.5 rating but that is not possible so I have to stick with the 8 ;)

"Going In Style" meets "Tough Guys" meets "Space Cowboys", but more laid-back and slow (at least in the first half), and with much more emphasis on aging erections and other unpleasant aspects most viewers would probably wish SUG would have stayed away from.Far too much screen-time is devoted to Pacino's penis, the movie going so far as to even show us the bulge in his pants! It was vomit-inducing – and I want my food back.Unfortunately, Walken's usual humorous and much-admired psycho/macho approach to playing crooks and the like takes a backseat to a much more elderly-gentleman-seeking-rocking-chair type of character. I wouldn't go so far as to say he was miscast, because even this kind of sedated Walken is better than none, but I would have preferred a different actor in the role, with Walken cast as the 4th ex-mobster, but one more in tune with Pacino's gung-ho attitude. Hiring Walken for a low-key role is a bit like casting Bill Murray in a dumb indie-type drama set in Japan.The movie's highlight is doubtlessly the vigilante lesson Al & Co. give to a gang of kidnappers/racists. Otherwise, the movie moves too slowly most of the times. The script is not much better than average and so SUG has to heavily rely on the charismatic trio to pull it off.Jon Bon Jovi? That was the other occasion I had to vomit during SUG.