Three retirees (Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Alan Arkin) discover that their pension plans have been raided, and hatch a plot to rob a bank to get back what's owed to them. Helmed by Zach Braff, Going in Style is the remake of Martin Brest's 1979 caper (which starred George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg) that nobody was clamoring for. Joe (Caine) proposes the heist to his lifelong pals Willie (Freeman) and Al (Arkin) after witnessing a robbery at his local Brooklyn bank. The three men are fed up with their meager existences, and put the plot into motion with the rationalization that even if they get nabbed, prison offers three meals a day and rent-free living.
Braff, the onetime Golden Boy of Twee, never quite managed to recaptured the success of his beloved, indie-leaning 2004 directorial debut Garden State. He crowdfunded the maudlin, more adult Wish I Was Here (2014) for his second feature, and now he's jumped straight to the geriatrics with this lifeless, point-and-shoot remake. You can understand why he chose such a project: It's a big studio picture with an inarguably great cast and a healthy target demographic of older adults. Braff essentially insulated himself from overt criticism by making this agreeable safety blanket of a movie, which perhaps required a handshake agreement with Warner Bros. that he would be barred from including a Shins song on the soundtrack.
Safety is a peculiar word to use when discussing a heist film, but the 1979 original has been strip-mined for just the plot basics: Three old guys rob a bank. Braff and screenwriter Theodore Melfi sprinkle in some references to modern life -- factory outsourcing, unfair mortgage refinancing, greedy banks -- but they largely omit the real stakes of loneliness and fear of mortality that were explored in the source material. This is about as innocuous and milquetoast as a flick about felonious old fogeys can get.
What remains is a breezy caper that gets all its scarce charm from its stellar cast of accomplished vets. Caine, Freeman, and Arkin are charming as grumps with nothing to lose, but the script doesn't give them much to work with. Moments of drama, such as Freeman's character's bout with a failing kidney, are relegated to filler in between planning the heist. Going in Style is ultimately so formulaic that its trailer functions as a SparkNotes version of the film, rather than a teaser of what cinemagoers can expect to see.
Going in Style is best embodied by the scene in which the three leads watch the finale of The Bachelorette: The bachelor they're hoping will be bestowed with the final rose is spurned, and so the gang huffs and puffs a bit before flicking off the TV to go to bed. This movie has all the risk and reward of that moment -- we may end up being minimally invested in these lovable old codgers, but Braff's remake just serves as a momentary distraction. There are worse ways to spend an hour and a half than in the company of Caine, Freeman, and Arkin; but Going in Style is probably best enjoyed from the couch, where you can scoff at the octogenarians' foolproof plans and change the channel whenever you please.