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‘Going in Style’ Remake ‘Feels the Bern’

There’s a fourth old codger in the new “Going in Style” remake, but you never actually see him on screen.

The remake of the 1979 dramedy stars Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Alan Arkin as three seniors plotting to rob a bank.

Why?

The system is rigged. Those evil bankers are out to destroy the middle class. Capitalism sucks. Now, what 70-something politician does that sound like?

Going in Style Official Trailer 1 (2017) - Morgan Freeman Movie

The original “Going in Style” had guts. The film’s three seniors (Lee Strasberg, George Burns and Art Carney) decide to rob a bank to add zest to their lives. Their pensions weren’t robbed, nor were they angry at their former employers.

They grew sick of their drab existence. That’s it. And happy endings proved in short supply.

Going In Style (1979) Official Trailer - George Burns, Art Carney Comedy Movie HD

It’s far edgier than the new movie, which jettisons that bittersweet tone for a cheerier set of situations.

Suffice to say the original is superior. it’s equally clear the filmmakers hoped to tap into Bernie Sanders’ “screw the system” rhetoric. Ironically, Sanders got burned by his own system during the Democratic primaries.

RELATED: ‘Billions’ Doesn’t Go the Full Bernie Sanders

You could argue the remake taps into a Trumpian tone, too. After all, candidate Donald Trump’s campaign message echoed the Sanders’ shtick in eerie ways. The system is corrupt, and you need an outsider to make it right.

It’s the film’s smaller tells that reveal the true “Bern.”

Mild Spoilers Ahead:

A key line late in the movie says it all.

“Everyone deserves a piece of the pie,” we’re told. That’s not what made America great. It is, though, a critical element of the Sanders fiscal blueprint. And our geriatric heroes spread as much of their wealth as possible during the third act.

FAST FACT: Lee Strasberg’s legacy extends beyond his stage and screen work. He helped teach acting to some of the biggest names in the industry, including James Dean, Jane Fonda and Joanne Woodward as part of the Actors Studio.

Even the film’s opening sequence has an Occupy Wall Street flair. Caine’s character gets inspired to break the law while being held captive by a masked group of bank robbers.

One robber singles Caine out, saying he doesn’t want to take any money from him personally. It’s the system he’s sticking up.

And, in the film’s morally warped reality, that robber isn’t a villain. How things have changed since 1979.

10 Comments

  1. Funny how the bad guys are always the evil banks and never the politicians (Democrats of course) who force crazy policies such as mandating loans to people who most likely can’t pay them back. Most bankers aren’t stupid nor in the business to lose money. Of course they came up with some clever means to get out from under those crappy loans.

    1. Not to mention the student loans scheme Democrats use to fatten the wallets of their friends in academia. How kids are stupid enough to believe it’s the bankers responsible for their debt instead of the people who directly benefit from the proceeds of those loans baffles me. Then again…they ARE products of public education…

      1. Don’t forget ( Evil ) Democrats are mentally insane, liars, and dumb but also evil and conniving all the time for new ways to cause division among American citizens.

  2. hollyweird is dead with no new ideas

    we all know that the demon rat party controls hollyweird
    don’t even bother to watch anymore because hollyweird insults my intelligence

    our side can see right thru hollyweird’s covertness
    and the actors and actresses are ridiculous
    gay men playing straight men in the movies
    dyke women playing straight women in the movies
    horror and gore
    sex and more sex
    hollyweird is upside down and sinking
    don’t go to the movies anymore

    cut my cable cord and bought a roku stick for $40
    now i watch exactly what i want without contributing to the networks that i don’t like
    watch a lot of apps free

    cut the cord and starve the beast

  3. Bernie smiles from the back porch of his lakefront third third home which will never be nationalized.

    1. da komrade. Commissar Sanders have glorious lake front dachas. His future will be glorious, GLORIOUS!!

      For us, not so glorious.

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