Old Guy

Old Guy
Stars: Christoph Waltz, Lucy Liu, Cooper Hoffman and Desmond Eastwood
Director: Simon West
Scriptwriter: Greg Johnson
Composer: Andrew Simon McAlister and Mono Town
Cinematography: Martin Ahlgren
Dark Castle Entertainment/The Avenue
Rating: R
Running Length: 92 Minutes

On a regular schedule comes a film about an aging man who kills on contract. Liam Neeson comes to mind and he is still going strong. Now, we have the Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz, who has taken on the role of just such a person. Of course, to follow the trend there must be a younger protégé, here played by Cooper Hoffman. Don’t forget femininity in the mix, and there is Lucy Liu. Director Simon Ward (“Mechanic”) puts this all together, but it just doesn’t quite fit, like a revolver with rusty bullets.  The script, by Greg Johnson, seems a bit dis-jointed, too.

As the story goes, Danny Dolinski (Christoph Waltz) is an aging hitman, but assigned to train a newcomer, Wihlborg (Cooper Hoffman) in this particular trade. Danny has had problems in his years, such as surgery on a hand, not to mention his aim isn’t always there. To aid in Danny’s latest job, the teacher and student have to deal with an Irish mob. Danny does have a girlfriend, though, and that is Lucy Liu. Danny does his best, but age is catching up with him. There are action scenes, such as an old shopping center, and even a rescue, that turns out to be Danny’s mother. There are quips in the dialogue here and there to speed things up,

As far as acting is concerned, Christoph Waltz is better than the dialogue but not given an opportunity to really bring it forth. Cooper Hoffman is the sidekick, just there with a quip or two.  It is Lucy Liu who is lacking presence in the film and is missed. A three-some who are almost there, but not quite. A slow-moving wagon. What does go together are the personifications of Waltz’s Dolinski character and the off-cuff comments from Hoffman’s Wihlborg character. So, all in all, “Old Guy” is old in that the theme is old, but “guy” is the teacher and student trying to make it work.

Two Tocks   

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