Going in Style Information

Going in Style is a 2017 American heist comedy film directed by Zach Braff and written by Theodore Melfi. A remake of the 1979 film Going in Style, it stars Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Alan Arkin, Joey King, Matt Dillon, Christopher Lloyd, Ann-Margret and John Ortiz, and follows a trio of retirees who plan to rob a bank after their pensions are cancelled.

The film premiered at the SVA Theatre on March 30, 2017 and was released in the United States on April 7, 2017. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $84 million worldwide against its $25 million budget.

Plot

Joe, Willie, and Albert are senior citizens and lifelong friends living in New York. During an unpleasant appointment at the bank, Joe is one of the victims to witness a robbery in progress carried out by three individuals wearing black masks. During the robbery, he notices the leader bearing a Mongol warrior tattoo on his neck as the only lead that could help the police identify the culprit. However, the leader sympathizes with Joe when he finds out about his current financial situation brought up by the bank. Then, the robbers manage to escape with over $1.6 million.

When the company they worked for is bought out, their pensions become a casualty of the restructuring. Joe is hit particularly hard and finds out that he, his daughter, Rachel, and granddaughter, Brooklyn, will be homeless in less than 30 days. Willie finds out he's gravely ill from kidney failure and needs a transplant and is even more frustrated because his financial situation forces him into a long-distance relationship with his daughter and granddaughter. Desperate, the three friends decide to rob the bank that is going to restructure their pension funds and take back what is rightfully theirs.

Inspired by his experience of the robbery, Joe originates the idea; at first Albert and Willie are appalled, but eventually agree when they later learn that their bank intends to steal their pensions. Trying to shoplift some items from a grocery store, where Al's love interest, Annie, works, results in a comic disaster, so the trio turn to Joe's former son-in-law, Murphy, and a criminal working as a pet store owner named Jesus to teach them the ropes. They plan an alibi using their lodge's carnival as a cover.

Joe, Willie, and Albert disguise themselves as "The Rat Pack" (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr.) and use guns with blanks so that no one gets hurt. The robbery almost goes awry when Willie collapses briefly and a child witness partially pulls off his mask to allow him to breathe better; she sees the wrist watch he wears with a picture of his granddaughter on it as he engages in a friendly conversation and sympathizes with her, so as not to let her feel intimidated about the robbery in progress and when the bank manager clumsily tries to fire shots at them; however, the three manage to get away with over $2.3 million. They are soon arrested on suspicion by FBI Agent Hamer after the manager from the grocery store recognizes Al's walk from the video surveillance cameras, but they all stick to their alibis.

Hamer puts them along with other senior suspects into a police lineup, using the child witness who partially took off Willie's mask. She refuses to identify Willie, leaving Hamer with no case. Willie suffers total renal failure and is near death until Al agrees to donate a kidney. While part of the money is used to help the three friends with their financial situations, the rest is given to their families, friends, co-workers, and fellow members at the lodge. Joe finally gets his granddaughter a puppy he promised her if she got A's in every subject at school; courtesy of Jesus, who is later revealed to be the leader of the robbers from the robbery Joe witnessed and has laundered the money that they stole. The tattoo on his neck is also revealed to be a fake made of henna, intended to throw the FBI and the police off the scent. The movie ends at Al and Annie's wedding as the three friends celebrate their good fortune.

Cast

• Morgan Freeman as Willie Davis, Kanika's grandfather and Maya's father, one of the three protagonists.
• Michael Caine as Joe Harding, Brooklyn's grandfather, Rachel's father and Murphy's father-in-law, one of the three protagonists.
• Alan Arkin as Albert Garner, one of the three protagonists.
• Joey King as Brooklyn Harding, Joe's granddaughter and Murphy and Rachel's daughter.
• Maria Dizzia as Rachel Harding, Joe's daughter, Murphy's ex-wife and Brooklyn's mother.
• Ashley Aufderheide as Kanika Davis, Willie's granddaughter.
• Gillian Glasco as Maya Davis, Willie's daughter and Kanika's mother.
• Matt Dillon as Special Agent Hamer, an FBI agent who investigates bank robberies.
• Ann-Margret as Annie Santori, Albert's love interest, Ezra's grandmother, and an employee at Value Town.
• Jeremy Schinder as Ezra Bronkowski, Annie's grandson.
• Anthony Chisholm as Paul, the Knights Grandmaster.
• Christopher Lloyd as Milton Kupchak, the guys' senile lodge buddy.
• Annabelle Chow as Lucy, Mandy's daughter and the child witness.
• Nancy Sun as Mandy, Lucy's mother.
• Kenan Thompson as Keith Schonfield, a grocery store manager of Value Town.
• Josh Pais as Chuck Lofton, the bank manager of Williamsburg Savings Bank who intends to take Joe's house in a month.
• Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Mitzi, a waitress at Nat's Diner.
• John Ortiz as Jesus Garcia, a man of unspecified credentials who agrees to show the guys the ropes, a pet store owner in Queens, and the leader of robbers at the beginning of the film.
• Peter Serafinowicz as Murphy Harding, Joe's former son-in-law, Rachel's former husband, and Brooklyn's estranged father.

Production

Development

On October 12, 2012, it was announced that New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. were developing a remake of 1979 heist comedy film Going in Style, with Theodore Melfi set to write the script. Donald De Line was on board to produce the film with Tony Bill, producer of the original film, as executive producer. Melfi was approached by De Line and Andrew Haas about writing the screenplay for the remake, but Melfi insisted on changing the ending to something more upbeat. Melfi explained: </ref>}}

On January 9, 2013, Don Scardino was hired to direct the film. On September 19, 2013, Melfi, who wrote the script was in talks to direct the film. On November 19, 2014, it was revealed that Zach Braff was in talks with the studio to direct the film, but he was not officially offered yet. On November 19, 2014, it was announced that Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine were cast in the film to play the lead roles, while Dustin Hoffman was in talks to join them. On April 9, 2015, Alan Arkin joined the cast of the film to complete the lead cast of three. On August 3, 2015, Joey King joined the cast of the film to play Caine's character's granddaughter. On August 10, 2015, Matt Dillon was added to the cast to play an FBI agent named Hamer, pursuing the three elderly lifelong friends and robbers. The same day, Ann-Margret was cast in the film for an unspecified role.

Filming

Principal photography on the film began in Brooklyn, New York City on August 3, 2015. Filming also took place in Astoria, Queens.

Release

Going in Style was released on April 7, 2017, which Warner Bros moved from an original May 6, 2016 date.

Box office

Going in Style grossed $45 million in the United States and Canada and $39.6 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $84.6 million, against a production budget of $25 million.

In North America, the film opened alongside Smurfs: The Lost Village and The Case for Christ, and was projected to gross around $8 million from 3,061 theaters in its opening weekend. It grossed $4.2 million on its first day and $11.9 million over the weekend, finishing above expectations and 4th at the box office. In its second weekend the film grossed $6.3 million (a drop of 47%), finishing 5th at the box office.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 49% based on 150 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Despite the considerable talent of its leads, Going in Style is light on laughs and plays it safe far too often." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a weighted average score 50 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reporter filmgoers gave it an overall positive score of 83%.