Tough Guys

Tough Guys is the 7th and final film legendary actors Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster made together . They play Harry Doyle ( Lancaster ) and Archie Long ( Douglas ) , the last American train robbers who just finished a 30 year prison sentence. A lot has changed since the 1950's as they attempt to adjust to civilian life in 1980's Los Angeles.Tough Guys as a film holds up real well due to the great chemistry of Lancaster and Douglas .Eli Wallach nearly steals the show as an aging hit-man who 's waited 30 years to kill Doyle and Long .Charles Durning and Dana Carvie are great as well in this fast paced ,nostalgic action comedy . Also check out an early performance from The Red Hot Chili Peppers before they blew up and were still part of the LA punk scene. Tough Guys is still funny and is easily one of the most overlooked comedies to come out in the late 80's . Definitely needs a US DVD release as my VHS tape won't last forever.Tough Guys is a great comedy classic that should satisfy fans of the 80's.

Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas were inexorably linked not just by their co-starring films together, but by the fact that Hedda Hopper in one of her books did a chapter on both of them. She entitled the chapter, The Terrible Tempered Twins and she bemoaned the fact that these two instead of being good little captives of the studio system that kept her in business, had the audacity to chart their own careers. Go into the production end and take total responsibility for the work they did.

It would never have worked had not Lancaster and Douglas not been good judges of the roles they were best suited for. Some stars never wanted that kind of responsibility or felt they were poor judges. William Holden said point blank after one picture where he was the producer, the responsibility was too much for him. Robert Taylor was widely quoted that he stayed with MGM as long as he did because he felt they knew best how to present him and what were good film properties.

But Burt and Kirk knew their minds and made their own careers work. Fortunately before both of them in the Nineties were felled by illness and Lancaster left us, they gave us one more co-starring part.

This one's a comedy though, something different for them. As Harry Doyle and Archie Long two elderly crooks released after a thirty year stretch for robbing the West Coast Flyer train, they find roles perfectly suited to their age and personality.

Lancaster's old and he knows it, but he still wants to be treated with some dignity. Douglas hasn't quite figured it out yet, but in time he gets the fact that time's caught up with him. They just can't adjust to changing times so they try all kinds of things to fit in. And then they decide on one spectacular coda to their lives and careers in the wonderful world of crime.

The two men are in great form and they get some able support from Alexis Smith, Charles Durning and Dana Carvey in the supporting cast. But special comment must be made for Eli Wallach's seeing eye hit-man. Good thing his part is not as long as the stars because he steals every scene he's in.

I wasn't disappointed when in 1986, Burt Lancaster announced on BBC's Wogan show that his new movie was going to star himself and his long time friend and frequent co-star Kirk Douglas. Since their first pairing in the brilliant noir thriller 'I Walk Alone' (1947), Lancaster and Douglas had made several appearances together. Who can forget Lancaster's tough talking Wyatt Earp and Douglas's equally tough yet terminally ill Doc Holliday in 'Gunfight at the OK Corral'?

So now it was the mid 80's, the age of the pepsi generation, I wondered how these two consistent stars would adapt to staring together again for the first time since the 60's. The answer is brilliant.

Harry Doyle (Lancaster), and Archie Long (Douglas) are released from prison after a 30 years sentence after being caught dead bang robbing a train. Eager to make a clean sweep, the two senior citizens, are looking forward to starting their new legitimate lives. However, all is not as they had hoped on the outside, and Harry and Archie have problems coming to terms with the way the world has changed. Director Kanew gives us a new genre here. Instead of the 'fish out of water' scenario, we have the 'two fishes that have been put back in the water after a severely long time' genre. However, Kanew also gives the audience the inevitable Clichés that go with it, and is always ready to fall back on a youth versus experience incident just about everytime the movie gets enjoyable. After being humiliated, patronised, and generally treated like dirt for the better part of a week, The two ageing gangsters decide that a life of crime has to be better then honest work, and predictably they revert to their previous careers as train robbers.

The film is enjoyable there's no escaping it, but there are more holes in the plot than there are in a grannies cardigan, and is also SOoooo predictable in fact the films outcome is more predictable than the outcome of a fight betwix elephant and duck. First of all to get 30 years simply for robbing a train, seems a bit excessive for the viewer to even find it believable. Co-incidentally the day the get out of prison is 1 week before the train they were caught robbing is making it's farewell run.

This aside the film IS enjoyable, and Lancaster and Douglas play their parts wonderfully and you enjoy the film more for their presence. Other cast members also rate highly, Eli Wallach is by far the funniest character, and his wonderful performance in some ways steals the film from it's intended stars. and the devine Alexis Smith makes a small cameo as Lancaster's ex lover. Charles Durning is unfortunately once again typecast as the over-weight lazy flatfoot (ala Dog Day Afternoon/The Sting) and although his performances are always good, you get tired pretty quickly of his tough talking patronising character. and finally there is (Pre Wayne's World) Dana Carvey as the Youthful Idealistic Parole Officer, but it's a shame that Carvey is restricted to playing pretty much a straight character, especially considering he is probably one of the funniest men working in Hollywood today.

Tough Guys should have been better, but I feel Kanew spent most of the budget on getting the perfect Sterling cast, rather than to hire a good script writer. Worth watching for the final appearance on-screen of this top notch duo. Since Lancaster's Death in 1994, I've warmed to this movie more knowing it could never happen again. It's just a shame it wasn't better as it could have been much better.

Watched it again on late night TV. Still funny after all these years. You could still see the occasional flashes of the old Kirk D, chilling look etc and Burt still has the movement of an athlete even at age 73, and his trade mark mirthless laugh but it was Eli Wallach who stole the film, absolutely brilliant. I think his character was stolen by the writers of a BBC TV comedy called "Last of the Summer Wine" which has a very short sighted character called Eli. So many scenes were so good that it makes it difficult to pick the best but I think the scene outside the old folks home is excellent when Leon B. Little picks himself up using the Zimmer frame, cruel but funny.

The ending was a bit of an anticlimax (same comment applies to "The Blues Brothers".

Tough Guys re-unites after a near 30 year gap the screen pairing of Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster and as such it's a wonderful piece of nostalgia. The premise suits the stars very well Archie Long and Harry Doyle after 30 years in prison for a train robbery are released into society and find things aren't want the used to be back in the old neighbourhood. The duo are soon mixed up with a short sighted hit-man (a scene stealing Eli Wallach), a hero worshipping parole officer (Dana Cavey), an old time cop convinced they'll rob again (Charles Durning) and some seriously 80's style thugs. Add to this just dealing with Archies day job and Harry's new life in a retirement home and their is a recipe for comedy and some surprisingly touching moments as the pair come to terms with old age.

The film is fun and well paced although there are some big plot holes and inconsistencies you can overlook these as its not a serious film. Douglas and Lancaster are clearly having a blast making the movie and seeing them on screen again one last time is great. I'd recommend this film for a feel good comedy or a bit of nostalgia for older movie fans. 7/10