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There comes a time in many careers when the older workers start feeling like they’re being pushed out to make room for young new hires. And when it starts to happen for an aging—and injured—hitman in the action comedy Old Guy, he decides that he won’t go down without a fight.
Old Guy stars Christoph Waltz as Danny Dolinski, an assassin who’s maintained a spotless record throughout his 30-year career. After being sidelined following surgery on his shooting hand, he’s eager to get back in the field—but he didn’t expect to be called in to train the new kid. Wihlborg (Cooper Hoffman) is a prodigy assassin—the future of the company—but Dolinski isn’t interested in handing over the reins. And when the pair is tasked with taking down the top members of a competing organization, the job quickly turns messy.
From the moment he meets the new kid, Dolinski can’t stand him. He doesn’t drink or do drugs or hit the clubs at night. He dresses funny, and he paints his nails. There’s nothing about him that fits with the image of a real professional—and he’s just a kid. Dolinski wants no part in training him—especially when it becomes clear that he’s training his own replacement. But it isn’t long before he realizes that he’s got bigger problems than just a goofy-looking kid with an attitude problem—and the bullets start flying.
As the two killers find themselves in the middle of a war between two organizations, the film gets muddy and over-complicated. With Christoph Waltz in the lead, this could have been a fun-filled action-comedy—and, at times, it is. His Dolinski is often just as over-the-top as you’d expect from the lovable star—and he’s definitely the best thing about the film. But as the characters get caught up in a mess of killers and crime syndicates and Dolinski’s mom—along with a random storyline involving Dolinski’s friend Anata (Lucy Liu) and her quest for a normal life—it may be good for some action and laughs, but it just doesn’t play out in the outrageously entertaining, attention-grabbing way that it should.
Though Christoph Waltz definitely brings plenty of his Oscar-winning quirkiness to the role, Old Guy doesn’t quite live up to its action-comedy potential. It has some fun moments, but it isn’t as wild and thrilling as it could have been.
You can join the old guy and the kid on their mission when Old Guy comes to theaters and digital on February 21, 2025.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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