Old Man

This gives the term "blow burner" a new meaning. I can absolutely understand if the average moviegoer won't appreciate Old Man, but I enjoyed it. It's just a handful of actors, with Stephen Lang as the main character, who plays an old, partially drunk man who lives alone in the woods. The visitor is a young and a little too polite man who is rather creepy. There is a twist at the end that I didn't really appreciate, but all in all this is an intense low budget thriller and Stephen Lang is great as always. The film is reminiscent of Don't Breathe where Lang plays kind of the same character as in this one. But don't waste your time. This is definitely not a movie for everyone. But if you like some weird and mysterious psychological thrillers/dramas, this is a good pick.

No pun intended - if you like or even love Stephen Lang ... well I do not need to convince you. If not, this may be able to convince you to to love him - his performance is everything! Yes there is the script (with a twist or two on your way or rather the movies way) ... but it is how he delivers whatever they give him.

That said, we do realize something is off from the get go. But what is it? Maybe you will surprised, maybe you can guess way before I did, where it goes with it. Maybe the new character late in the game will throw you off, maybe it won't ... there is a lot of factors that have to work for you, to like the movie. One is the pace - the other your patience with the performance - which is excellent of course, but might not be something that floats your boat ... just saying.

Being a subtle fan of Lucky Mcgee, I envisioned something very different, as I was walking in knowing very little and also avoided trailers.

It's presented like a play. In other words, a one room, mostly 2 person venture. No real surprises but it has somewhat of a payoff that some might see coming, as I did, heading into the third act.

With that said, it's glacially slow at times---but I felt the dialogue was the glue that helped the weakish script hold up and may also have helped with the ending as well.

Violence and horror are pretty much surprisingly subdued---was more of a thriller in my opinion. Stephen Lang absolutely delivers the good as does Mcgee's intent---it just may be overlooked by some that get frustrated with the pacing.

6/10.

I've been a fan of Stephen Lang ever since I watched his performance in Manhunter(1986) directed by the acclaimed director Michael Mann. A quote from that film: "Well, here I am..."

If ever there was an A-grade actor handled badly by Hollywood it's Stephen Lang. After Red Dragon he disappeared into obscurity. He should've used that film as a push into successful mainstream Hollywood movies of that era. However he had very meager successes. I would advise you to watch Escape: Human Cargo where he starred opposite Treat Williams another favorite actor of mine.

Back to the film: it is about an old man in a secluded cabin at the back ends of the world. He is struggling with guilt and fading memories of his past. He's interrupted by a knocking at the door and lets in a lost visitor. Soon the two fall into conversation. You'll have to sit through this one till the end to find out what happens next...

Overall Stephen Lang's fantastic acting saves this movie as its only grace. The photography and sound effects are more than adequate for a movie of this sort. Edward Lucky McKee is an exemplary film director and I'm sure the next projects of his will be very good.

Verdict: a very good and worthwhile one time viewing. You may also like these movies: Misery(1990), The Nature Of The Beast(1995) and Ravenous(1999).

P. S. First to review this movie! Cheers and thanks for reading this review!

This is like a stage play.

Stephen Lang was great, pace was good and the story was interesting enough to make me invested. Not for a second i felt bored and there is a twist i didn't see it coming. However, i can't recommend it. Just because the twist was unexpected, it doesn't mean that i liked it. Story was not illogical or dumb but still, some things didn't make much sense. The ending was kinda chaotic. Zero explanations given about Rascal, the cabin and what is this all about. I could overlook those details, a certain amount of ambiguity is not always a bad thing, but i can't get over the fact that the victimizer was more likeable than the victim. Thus, i didn't enjoy the ending, it was sad and not cathartic.

In any case, this is not a bad movie, and if you love dialogue driven drama/mystery movies, maybe you will like it more than me.