Just Getting Started

I had high hopes for this movie, they didn't last very long. It's almost interesting when it starts out but it takes a long time to get anywhere. I have a lot of respect for most these actors but I fear some of them are way past their prime. When Tommy Lee Jones walks he looks like he's in terrible pain, I get it, I have joint pain from arthritis to but it's distracting to see on the screen.

The writing is very unrealistic, the characters are so fake. What is Renee Russo doing in this movie? She's too young to be hanging out with these old farts. It's sad with all the talent hired on to do this film they didn't have better material to work with. The writing is just plain bad. Obviously most of these actors just did this for a paycheck, they put their time and went home. There is nothing special about this movie. To be honest, I wouldn't even watch it on broadcast TV it was so disappointing.

Was this a great film, no, but it was totally enjoyable to watch as I knew it had to be considering the cast. Not just Jones & Freeman, but Jane Seymour, George Wallace, Joe Pantoliano, & Glenne Headly in her final film. Sure it's a play on a plot that's been done before with a few twists, but with different players always different. If you want an hour & half of entertainment and aren't predisposed to think old folks are has beens, check it out.

I could not believe the shockingly low score for this film with such an all star cast. Once I saw it, I realized it was in fact deserving of the 3.8 IMDb rating, and only so high, from the sympathetic votes for these A-listers when they realized what they had signed up for.

So here's what I think happened. Ron Shelton's 5th grade grandson wrote and directed this nonsense but was too young to be named in the credits, so grandpa steps in and enters his name.

Next, Waze (the phone GPS app that was product-mentioned) funded this 5th graders film, and paid these A-list actors their wages so people will go see this mess, then leave the theater and download their app.

What else can it be? These huge actors did their worst... they hardly made an effort. The entire set was probably the after-party set up for when filming wrapped, just for the A-listers to have incentive to do some type of performance.

The directing and editing was, well, that of a 5th grader.

What a waste of talent on such a garbage screenplay.

A sympathetic 3/10 from me, only for the all star cast that got duped into making this nonsense.

'JUST GETTING STARTED': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)



An action-comedy buddy flick from writer/director Ron Shelton, who's previously helmed such popular sports-comedies as 'BULL DURHAM','WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP' & 'TIN CUP' (as well as the action-comedy buddy flick 'HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE'). The film stars Morgan Freeman and Tommy Lee Jones as an ex-mob lawyer, and an ex-FBI agent, that have to overcome their personal feud in order to survive a mafia hit at their retirement home. The movie also costars Rene Russo, Joe Pantoliano, George Wallace, Jane Seymour and the late Glenne Headly (in one of her final film performances). It's received mostly negative reviews from critics, and it's also underperformed at the Box Office so far as well. I found it to be very mildly amusing, at times, but it's also mostly just a waste of time.

Duke Diver (Freeman) is the most popular resident at villa Capri, a retirement home which he also helps run. That is until a new guest, named Leo (Jones), shows up. Leo rivals Duke at everything he's known for there, and the two engage in a bitter rivalry (even over women). That is until a mob hitman attempts to kill Diver, and the two must then put aside their dispute in order to survive.

I'll admit Freeman and Jones are both entertaining to watch, but that's only because they're such good actors. The duo is so much better than the material they're given here, and Ron Shelton has delivered much better material than this in the past. Maybe it's because they're all getting so old, but I know that Jones and Freeman can still do much better than this. They just need to learn to skip bad film roles.

I don't care what anyone else says it's fun and entertaining fluff. It's not meant to be serious so just enjoy it. By the way, I want to go live there, yes sir I do...