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Stand Up Guys
2012 95 min United States of America R 16+
★5.9
Thriller, Comedy, Action, Crime
Director: Fisher Stevens
Trailers
Description
After serving 28 years in prison for accidentally killing the son of a crime boss, newly paroled gangster Val reunites with his former partners in crime, Doc and Hirsch, for a night on the town. As the three men revisit old haunts, reflect on their glory days and try to make up for lost time, one wrestles with a terrible quandary: Doc has orders to kill Val, and time is running out for him to figure out a way out of his dilemma.
Budget:
$15M
US Gross:
$3.31M
Worldwide:
$5.1M
Starring
Al Pacino
Actor
Christopher Walken
Actor
Alan Arkin
Actor
Awards
Golden Globe 2013
— Best Original Song
Key opinion
Stand Up Guys is a character-driven crime drama centered on the chemistry between its legendary lead actors rather than its plot. While many viewers appreciate its melancholic, contemplative tone and sharp humor, others find the script thin and the pacing overly stagnant.
| Acting | The legendary trio of Pacino, Walken, and Arkin provides an essential, masterclass performance that carries the entire film. | |
| Theme | The film successfully subverts genre expectations by prioritizing themes of aging and male friendship over conventional mob-movie violence. | |
| Direction | Fisher Stevens' direction offers a restrained, authentic, and unpretentious tone that suits the story’s modest scope. | |
| Pacing | The deliberate, slow-burn approach serves as a meditative exploration of mortality for some, but is viewed as dull and lacking momentum by others. | |
| Screenplay | The script is criticized by some for being banal and under-developed, while others find the witty dialogue and humorous take on aging to be the film's greatest strength. |