Intended as a victory lap for three great stars of advancing age, Stand Up Guys is another entry in the “old folks doing stuff” subgenre, which offers comic affirmation that life is not strictly for the young.
This is the subgenre that had a retirement-home population necking like teenagers in Cocoon, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman jumping out of an airplane in The Bucket List, and ancient astronauts repairing an old Soviet satellite in Space Cowboys. These films offer the cheering fantasy of revitalization, plus the comedy of veteran actors — some marquee attractions in their day — not acting their age.
Yet that fantasy curdles badly in Stand Up Guys, in large part because the funny business isn’t as innocuous as retirees cutting a rug. The lovable old-timers here, played by Al Pacino and Christopher Walken, are contract killers, and their one-crazy-night misadventures detour into thieving, maiming, murder and no fewer than three trips to the local brothel. (Leading to no fewer than three Viagra jokes, too, which is three above the legal limit.)
It would take a deft touch to frame their transgressions as an essentially harmless final go-around for a couple of old professionals. But actor-turned-director Fisher Stevens gravely misjudges the tone — when he isn’t trying to get too cute about everything, he slathers his characters in unearned sentimentality.
The workable premise has Val (Pacino) getting out of prison after serving 28 years for accidentally killing the boss’s son. Though Val has taken the time without complaint, the boss (played by Mark Margolis, best known as the fearsome Tio Salamanca on Breaking Bad) wants him dead within 24 hours of his release.