Based on the true story of Forrest Tucker, although we are told at the beginning of the film somewhat! His escape from San Quentin prison at the age of 70! After that a string of heist's at banks using his charm to do it without much hassle at all.
This is the final acting role for Robert Redford as he announced his retirement from acting earlier this year and I can confirm it is such a good role for him to go out with. Managing to show off his charm and charisma one last time, the character of Forrest Tucker is perfect to do just that.
Forrest Tucker was pretty much a career criminal having been first locked up when he was only 15 years old. From that point on he was in and out of jail, we meet him during his most famous break out and the cops attempting to track him down. We eventually find out more of his back story and it is a pretty good ride. It doesn't take long for him to get back into the bank robbery game and he does it with such charm he was so nice to the people working in the banks. I think that caused a lot of confusion for them in terms of not freaking out so much.
While doing this he met Jewel and really connects with her, obviously not telling her of his life and what he is actually up to. But you can tell he wants to help her out a lot and she deserves it as well. She comes across as a rather broken woman.
John Hunt is the detective who is determined to catch the bank robber and manages to start to piece things together. As no one else really seems to care very much which frustrates him and makes him work even harder to find out who this old man is. Baring in mind he is 70 years old, but to begin with they aren't sure so somewhere between 50-70.
I thought the chase was pretty good in terms of the cops closing in and Forrest not being phased by that in the slightest. Teddy and Walter working with him on most of the jobs, We don't really get to know very much about them and not a lot of dialogue is done between them in all honesty.
Casey Affleck was pretty impressive as John Hunt you could not help but feel for him at times as he was trying his best. I thought he captured the range of emotions in a good way. Obviously though this film is all about Redford and he totally owns it showing off that charm and charisma with that killer smile one final time. Seriously though he is as good as ever, so engaging and easy to watch from start to finish and I enjoyed every single second he was on-screen (which was a lot) and rather close up as well. A perfect ending to a remarkable career and a film I am so happy to have seen on the big screen!
