I remember not liking the 1979 original old-guy caper film (with George Burns, Art Carney and Lee Strasberg), but I rather enjoyed this new version (with Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin).  It is a breezy comedy — with serious undertones — about three retirees forced into poverty when their pensions are eliminated by corporate cost-cutting.  They decide to rob the bank of their former company before they become homeless and destitute.

Zach Braff’s film skillfully blends comedy and drama, using sarcasm to drive home the hardest serious points and dramatic tension to intensify the comedy.  The elderly leads are all terrific and their manner of revenge is as righteous as can be.  In real life, of course, crime is never the answer, but in a fable like this one it provides the perfect recipe for their plight — the act of planning and then robbing the bank rejuvenates them, while the take rewards them for decades of hard work when their former company abandons them (and all of its other employees).  Tales like these are protests against our system, when capitalism works against the people that do all the hard work, only to lose their earned wealth to corporate greed.  It’s impossible to root against the people who take issue with such foul action and attempt to recoup something before it is too late.

I think the movie almost loses its way during the actual robbery, when a bank official grabs a gun and tries to stop the robbery; that scene doesn’t work for me.  But the aftermath, when the oldsters are rounded up by the police and their fate hangs on a bystander’s human nature, is beautifully handled.  The best caper movies persuade viewers to root for the criminals and get away with their audacious crimes; Going in Style does this and more.  It actually has things to say about how things work, or don’t work, yet couches its criticism in clever, satisfying revenge comedy.  It’s a winner.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  13 May 2017.