Forrest Tucker is someone who does the same thing over and over and over again, rob banks, get caught, get thrown in jail and bust out.
Blaine: Since he was a kid, Robert Redford has always been attracted to outlaws. Robert read this article on Forrest Tucker in “The New Yorker” and was amazed that Forrest repeated the same things over and over again. Forrest Tucker loved doing what he did because it was his way of living. It was also an easy thing back in those days. Being chased and getting caught by the police didn’t bother Forrest because he always knew he was going to figure out how to break out of prison. Forrest was locked up and broke out of jail 16 times. Forrest didn’t think he was good at anything else, except robbing banks. Forrest was always a gentleman to the people he was robbing. Forrest never pointed a gun at anybody, nor did he ever use the gun. David Lowery was at the Sundance Film Festival promoting his movie, “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”, and Robert Redford saw it and thought David Lowery should be the one to turn Forrest Tucker’s story into a movie. Robert approached David with the article and it was mind blowing for David that a legend like Robert Redford wanted to do a project with him. David also felt honored that Robert liked his work. It took five years for David to develop a script for “The Old Man and The Gun”. During that time, David made two other movies, “Pete’s Dragon”, which Robert Redford was apart of, and “A Ghost Story”. David decided to write a new draft for “The Old Man and The Gun” and he watched a lot of classic crime movies in order to get to know the rules of the genre. David wanted to try something new with the crime genre for “The Old Man and The Gun”. David would challenge himself by thinking of things that people have never seen in a crime movie before. David would over write things in the script some of the time.
Not everything in “The Old Man and The Gun” is true. There’s even a message at the beginning of the movie saying "this is mostly a true story.” What is fact about Forrest Tucker in the film is that he broke out of prison several times, robbed tons of banks, but David felt some of the details needed to enhanced more to make Forrest look like a legend. David could see the look of the film as he was writing the script. David wanted it to feel old fashioned and make it feel like it was made in the late ‘70s. David wanted the movie to be shot in 16 mm and give the tint a soft mysterious look to it. David had a lot of fun creating an environment that felt like a different era. Robert Redford had David Lowery do whatever with the film because David has talent and is a man with a lot of ideas. Robert trusted David. David is also one of the most passionate filmmakers out there. David Lowery discussed each one of the characters with the actors who were going to play them. Det. John Hunt was the number one person who was after Forrest Tucker because going after bank robbers made him feel like a better cop. Robert Redford liked that John Hunt represented the predator, where as Forrest Tucker represented the prey as he read the article. John had no idea who this bank robber was at first, except that he was polite and smiled a lot. John really wanted to catch him and he wouldn’t let anyone else, like the FBI, take over the case. Finally, John got a tip on who the bank robber was. Once John had a lead, he started to do some digging on Forrest’s background.
Forrest meets a woman named Jewel and she was the only person he ever got close to the more he got to know her. Jewel is a very grounded person who is happy with her life. Forrest is honest with Jewel on some of the things he does in life, but he makes it sound like he is just being funny. Jewel loves what she has done with her life like being married to her husband, who is now dead, having kids and having a horse ranch. With the husband gone and the kids all grown up, the ranch is the only thing Jewel has left and Forrest wants to help her keep it by buying it with the money he stole. Jewel wasn’t expecting to have a new man in her life because she was already happily married and wasn’t trying to find someone to replace her husband, until Forrest comes into her life. David wanted there to be surprises you would not normal see in a crime movie. The biggest surprise in “The Old Man and The Gun” is Forrest revealing himself to John Hunt. John Hunt takes his wife, Maureen, to the same diner Forrest and Jewel usually go to and Forrest looks a little nervous because he saw John on the news and knows he is looking for the polite bank robber. John goes into the restroom and Forrest shows himself to John. I don’t think Forrest knew that John did some research on him and knows he is the polite bank robber he has been after. Forrest acts like John doesn’t know who he is and just walks right through him. Forrest gets himself busted and thrown in jail for the 17th time. Things are still good between Forrest and Jewel. Jewel bails Forrest out of jail and allows him to stay with her because she wants to help him. What Forrest does must be like a disease like an alcohol addiction. Jewel just wants Forrest to do something else with his life. Problem is it’s hard to get bank robbing out of Forrest’s system. It makes him happy. This is the life he has chosen and there is no turning back.
David Lowery wasn’t aware that Robert Redford was going to retire after this movie until he got an email saying it. It was a complete shocker for David. David tried not to think about it because he didn’t want it to get in the way of the project. Things were emotional for David and everyone on set as they were shooting a scene where Robert is on a horse because it reminded them of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”. David was lucky enough to get a chance to work with one of Hollywood’s most beloved legends in his career. Robert Redford loved how “The Old Man and The Gun” turned out and that meant a lot to David, especially to make Robert’s last movie a good one.
My rating on “The Old Man and the Gun” is five out of five stars
