elshikh4 So why you felt unsatisfied after the movie's end ? It's not a bad movie by all means. OK, I think I have the answer for that.The thing is that script is all about comedy. Yes, it's a black comedy, with potential character study. Also it's thrilling, with numbered hours before inevitable, very sad, climax. Add to that, a pretty neat twist in the end, where the meaning is "leave with a bang", or "die with your friend, instead of dying alone", or maybe "let's turn out sunset to sunrise". However, the real goal that this script wanted, and spared no effort to reach it.. was comedy ! Accordingly we have 2 problems. The first is that the comedy didn't hit a big mark. "Disgusting" is a fair word to describe most of it with scenes in a brothel, conversations about penises, bad erection sequence, nutcracker joke.. etc, etc, till it approaches being a nasty sex comedy. That was awful, let alone boring as well. Aside from that, you'd get freely obnoxious moments like snoring medicine bills (why not swallowing them ??). Disgusting comedy both ways !The second problem is the bad irony between the light and average at best material on one hand, and the super heavyweight names in the cast on the other. When you read names like Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin, you have to think Oscar worthy, deepness behind the drama, seriousness along comedy. But sorry. No such luck. That's why it has that vibe of a very good TV movie, that should have had Danny Aiello, Chazz Palminteri, and Gary Busey as lead actors instead. Or – better – needed a wholly comic cast since the start, with better comic situations too.In terms of faulty script, I believe Walken isn't that stupid to kill Pacino in the bathroom with no silencer (too noisy, too bloody, it would be a mess !). Pacino didn't have to tell the detailed story of killing the mob boss's kid wrongly, since Walken was there anyway. The running gag of "kicking a**es, and chewing gum" is a frank proof of writing lacking. Originally, why to borrow form another movie, and I mean They Live (1988), and don't make a quirk by yourself ?? Plus, considering the ages of the movie's writer and director, Noah Haidle and Fisher Stevens respectively, that line could be a running gag between them since the late 1980s, not between those 2 lead characters who are much older (Pacino's character went to jail at least in 1984, namely 4 years before that movie was even made !).Yet, what irritates me more is the lost chances. While the movie had forces of nature as lead actors, it didn't try to invest them rightly. I thought that in the diner scene the 3 characters would have some talk about the old days, with exploring their fears, dreams, joys, and frustrations. However, what I had was "I want to do 2 girls in the same time", and before you know it Arkin drops dead ! Another lost chance when Pacino goes to confess in the church. I hoped to see the serious side of the movie there. But it turned out to be another attempt at comedy, which was done poorly by the way !The oldies on the soundtrack didn't make me at ease. Although they're wonderful, but the idea of old music on soundtracks became so trite lately. Why not thinking in something more innovative ?! Once, in 1949, a mystery English movie by the title of The Third Man, directed by a good guy named Carol Reed, went to use a cherry music by a nice gent named Anton Karas, for all the dark and edgy time of the movie. Hollywood misses, or maybe forgot, that revolutionary spirit, to a degree where their soundtracks became something sellable more than distinct. A safe move, though not that artistic, and really commonplace !Fisher Stevens did well in his directorial debut, but not very well like his performance as a comedian / actor I adore. Addison Timlin and Walken were the best of this movie. Walken, in specific, ate up Pacino all the way. Couple of lines, and I mean only couple of lines, fascinated me : "We die twice; once, when the breath leaves our body, and once when the last person we know says our name", and "They look like the sunrise but I was painting you". The painting was great. And I liked the last moment a lot, it's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid-ish, but has its own character nevertheless. So all the time I expected much more, to find so little. No, I won't say the publicity fooled me. I'll say it's a waste to play a potentially powerful black comedy just for laughs. And it's worse than that already when those laughs aren't even there. And it's even worse and worse when you bring 3 of the finest actors to perform no fine comedy or drama. See, it's "bad ironies" not "bad irony" after all !

eric262003 As his acting career is reaching its final stages (not yet but soon) Al Pacino can still find many ways of reinventing himself in areas he's never been in before. Though his leading man days are behind him, Pacino feels there's still some fuel left in the tank that no one could tell him otherwise even by starring films below his talents like "Stand Up Guys" a character driven vehicle which would have been the type of film he would have dismissed about a decade ago. I feel he should performed in more of these character dramas by the end of the 1990's that way we wouldn't watch a legendary performer like Pacino slowly fade out his status a top box office draw. Still, there's no one who has the nerve to arbitrarily say it to his face.Pacino stars as Val, a petty crook who's been incarcerated for over 28 years and has now been released. The only person who greets him is his old partner Doc (Christopher Walken), only not with open arms, but with the task of taking his life assigned by their old accomplice Claphands (Mark Margolis). Claphands has revenge on his mind for Val was responsible for the death of his who aligned with Val while Val served nearly three decades behind bars and has vowed that on the day of his release, he will be whacked. Doc is now in precarious situation that if he doesn't do the task, he'll be killed never meeting his estranged granddaughter (Addison Timlin).For a script to work, it needs to be in good hands of a trustworthy scriptwriter who can where these characters are coming from and to refrain from focusing too much on the plot, especially since the three leads are in the 70+ club. Sadly, the script was written by the much younger, fresher playwright Noah Haildle who's making his feature length screen debut. Not to say the guy's got no future, but the film feels more theatrical than it does cinematic, plus there's no motives into what makes these characters tick. It's just saturated with too much talk and it feels very random and frequent and they say a lot without holding anything that sparks interest. Which makes this 95 minute film feel like a two film. The momentum is at a snail's pace.The story circles around the long hours of events prior to Val's demise as Val and Doc getting into some mischief as a ploy to stall the execution. Such activities include entering a whorehouse just to steal some Viagra, steal a muscle car, gathering another old comrade in crime Hirsch (Alan Arkin), saving a rape victim (Vanessa Ferlito) while leaving her to take revenge on them and to operate a bulldozer to bury Hirsch who died from natural causes. Sounds like a lot in one night! Right? With a full table like this had the makings of a great comedy caper along with the pathos and the sad scenes combined. Sadly, Haidle only merely scratches the surface of these scenarios.Sure knowing that the film stars three screen legends like Pacino, Walken and Arkin in the leads is truly worth a viewing, but that would be the only legitimate reason to watch this film at all. Arkin is the one who stands out the most here, such a shame he has the thinnest role. Sure the acting is great though it doesn't stick out and the finale has moments of intrigue, sadly the script and the snail pacing of this film made this long night all the more longer.

Dominic LeRose With ridiculous dialog, lousy characters, and a predictable plot you'll get a terrible film. 'Stand Up Guys' is every bit of that. Al Pacino plays Val, a recently released from prison gangster who is in his old days and comes from a bad past. His old partner Doc (Christopher Walken) is assigned to put a hit on him by his boss for revenge on an event that occurred. Doc gives Val one last day for the two of them to enjoy life, and boy does it get tacky. Val uses prostitutes, dances with women, gets involved in violence and stealing, and of course goes to confession at church like every redemption film with an Italian male lead. Nothing is unique in this film at all! The acting is horrendous and Pacino gives the worst performance of his career. Fisher Stevens makes this film so tacky by shooting it in a weird style with nothing unique. The forced comedy and lame message bring nothing to the table. All you can expect is a forced film with unnatural plots and characters that make you want to stand up and leave. Be a stand up guy and do not see this film!

NBates1 This movie is absolutely horrific. The actors look bored and tired, there is basically NO plot, it never gets to the point and just plain old boring. The story is basically about some old dude who has to kill his best friend and never gets to do that as giving him his last day turns into torture for the audience. They come and go like 1000 times to a whore house until one of them actually gets sick for taking too much of a pill (yes, that actually happens). And then they basically save a naked girl from the trunk of a car they stole. The end made NO sense, and was just a waste of my time. A pity that such great actors were cast in this stinker.1/10