Old Guy Movie Review – Christoph Waltz Brings the Laughs and Action to This Three-Star Affair

Raise your hand if you’re sick of assassin stories. I know I am, so the excitement for Old Guy hovered in the low digits. That said, it has Christoph Waltz in it, so even the worst Christoph Waltz movie is better than most Oscar winners.

Then, something else caught my eye: Directed by Simon West. Yes, that Simon West from Con Air, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and The Mechanic fame. Okay, so maybe Old Guy was slowly turning this reviewer into Mildly Excited Guy. Funnily enough, that’s exactly the feeling the film conveys: Mildly exciting. Old Guy isn’t about to revolutionize the action comedy genre, nor will it make me crave more assassin movies in the immediate future, but it provides a few hearty laughs and good action for its 93-minute running time. It’s the embodiment of a three-star classic in every way.

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The generic story doesn’t hold back the dynamic buddy comedy duo

Old Guy centers on Danny Dolinski (Christoph Waltz), an aging hitman who wants to get back into the game after a surgery to treat his arthritis. Times are changing, though, and Danny finds out that his bosses plan to chuck out the old guard and replace them with new blood. An unhappy Danny gets paired with the young prodigy Wihlborg (Cooper Hoffman) on an assignment, but they instantly clash because of generational differences toward their profession and life in general. However, they’re forced to get along after their employer double-crosses them.

Yeah, this is the premise of every buddy comedy where opposing characters need to learn how to work through their differences to survive a dangerous mission, but Greg Johnson’s routine script gets elevated by the sizzling performances from Waltz and Hoffman. Danny and Wihlborg know how to rub each other up the wrong way, and it’s their casual interactions and smaller, seemingly inconsequential moments that lift the movie from average to entertaining. An hour and a half of them just arguing about everything – from food to how to deal with anxiety – would be more than enough for any viewer, really.

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The movie is better when Christoph Waltz and Cooper Hoffman are on screen

While Danny and Wihlborg’s harmonious connection establishes itself as the highlight of Old Guy, it also turns into one of its biggest weaknesses when the spotlight gets taken away from them. Lucy Liu’s Anata feels shoehorned into the story as the third lead, often receiving a lot more screen time than the character deserves. It isn’t to say that Liu provides a bad performance – quite the contrary – but I’m still scratching my head about what the point of Anata is in the overall scheme of the story. Is she just a love interest or symbolic of something more? In addition to this, the fact that I had to force myself to think about who the villain is again speaks volumes about their impact here.

Considering Simon West’s pedigree, the action scenes don’t disappoint. Not only does West manage to blend both spectacular shootouts and furious fisticuffs into the fast-paced story, but he also infuses a significant amount of humor into these moments. Since Danny is still recovering from surgery, he struggles to pull his gun’s trigger, which leads to hilarious consequences in certain sequences. Consequently, it’s a treat to see how lethal – but awkward – Wihlborg is when Danny fails to step up. Not one to be outdone, Danny thinks of innovative ways to get back his mojo.

Is Old Guy worth watching?

At its core, Old Guy tells the story of two generations having to move away from the “my way or the highway” attitude and adapting to survive. There’s no misunderstanding the theme here, since it’s a sledgehammer to the head, reminding boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z to stop complaining about each other and to appreciate (and learn from) their differences. Hey, at least it isn’t a story about great power and great responsibility, right? Ultimately, Old Guy proves to be a breezy action-packed film carried by the comedic synergy between Christoph Waltz and Cooper Hoffman. Expect nothing more and you’ll have a good time.