An excellent cast who may have had nothing better to do than pay the bills. There are no laugh out loud moments, It seems to centre on older men being as competitive as young men, boys will be boys. But the whole plot and comic moments are so lame it never gets above mediocre. Not terrible, but not really worth watching.
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apjc22 February 2018
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lennybuttz19 December 2017I 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. -
Hellmant15 December 2017'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. -
FilmWriter56914 December 2017I started with a 2, but I give it a 3 for charm and moderate innocent fun - against so much of the garbage dark and grim superhero and political garbage movies filling the theaters today, but seriously, how did this movie make it to the theaters? The Director/Writer along with the Editor should have their salaries docked for such lousy work. I mean absolute garbage efforts --- in all three - writing - directing (which allowed poor acting from taking the worst cuts - and editing -- the absolute worst. They managed to take three main-stream super star actors and nearly ruin their careers (likely not) with this VERY poorly written, VERY poorly directed and oh my gosh.. I can't say it enough.. the editing is the worst. Talk about rush rush and no substance to the story development. The only thing I truly liked about this movie was the colorful and sun-filled backdrop of the location it was filmed made it fun to sit through, and seeing the faces of Jones, Russo and Freeman -- three actors I who's work I have enjoyed so much over the decades, along with many supporting roles of some big names -- made it watchable. But that's it. Glad this was gifted to me, and I didn't pay to go see this movie on my own dime.
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cschultz-214 December 2017At first glance, it seems as if "Just Getting Started" is going to resemble one of the old Bob Hope and Bing Crosby collaborations from decades ago-two footloose con men ambling along in search of a life of ease, avoiding responsibility and matrimonial entanglements by relying largely on their wits and their engaging personalities.
But before you start getting excited by a sense of nostalgia, you might want to remember that the Hope and Crosby comedies coasted along on the most threadbare of plots, leaning instead on the rapport between the two stars and their often unscripted and improvised dialogue, which mostly consisted of in-jokes and references to each other's entertainment personas.
And that's one of the many problems of "Just Getting Started"-unlike Hope and Crosby, stars Morgan Freeman and Tommy Lee Jones have absolutely no chemistry in their scenes together. While the dialogue in the picture might seem spontaneous and unscripted, it's not-it just isn't funny. And as anyone knows who's seen either Jones or Freeman appearing on a television talk show, without a script in his hands neither actor has a great deal of personality to contribute to the party.
"Just Getting Started" has no discernible plot-there's barely even a pulse. As a result, the picture after a while begins to resemble one long and pointless comedy sketch rejected by some obscure television variety show from the 1970s. Worse, Freeman and Jones often mutter and mumble their lines inaudibly, under their breath, as if they're embarrassed.
They have reason to be-writer and director Ron Shelton has created for the two aging stars a script which meanders all over the screen. The story seems to travel in one direction for a few minutes, then wanders off in another direction, and then repeats the pattern again and again until we don't really know what the picture's about. Is it a mob comedy? A satire?
Rene Russo, cast in the role Dorothy Lamour would've played in a Hope and Crosby comedy, at least gives the movie her best effort-in marked contrast to Jones and Freeman, Russo seems to be pointedly enunciating her lines, but in the process she also unfortunately removes every dramatic nuance or hint of intentional humor. And Jane Seymour in a guest-star role literally phones in her performance-she has no scenes with any of the other actors, appearing almost unrecognized in elaborate wigs and slinky metallic outfits, shrieking with a Noo Yawk accent into a gold telephone.
Dumped into 2146 theaters nationwide, "Just Getting Started" has earned a 9% approval rating from the critics on the Rotten Tomatoes website, and a score of 25 out of 100 on Metacritic, signaling generally unfavorable reviews. The more charitable audiences polled by CinemaScore assign the picture a C grade.
"Just Getting Started" is a mess. Skip this one entirely, and save your money to buy extra Christmas gifts. -
asche195910 December 2017I know you know the drill by now, One nice. charismatic fellow is the "go to" guy at the old folks home. All the ladies want to date him and all the single guys want to be him. Life is good and going his way until a new comer comes out of nowhere to upset his happy little paradise and as a result he's yesterday's news. As a result the next 1hr & fifteen minutes are spent with our former #1 fellow trying in vain to prove he's still #1. Simply put, this movie isn't funny at all, nope not in the least. Oh it'll make you smile here and there but that's about it. The only thing this movie has going for it is star power but even then the lines are weak and non responsive at best. My friend and I didn't laugh at all during the movie. A couple sitting near us got up and walked out roughly halfway through. Another couple was heard saying "well that was a horrible movie" just as we walked by to leave. The more I thought about it no one else laughed at all during the entire movie either, not even once. Everything seemed so formulaic and exceedingly predictable and that's because it painfully is. Oh did I mention the once two adversaries eventually come to like one another towards the end of the film, yeah well they do, no surprise there. Morgan Freeman, Tommy Lee Jones and Renee Rouseau are all great actors and yet even they can't make this film funny. My guess is its the writing and script as it don't give them any room to work with. As far as I'm concerned this movie really should've had the direct to DVD release treatment, thus I'm only giving it 2 stars and I honestly feel I'm being far too kind in doing even that. Watch something else instead, you've been warned!
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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. -
bobbyzamora475 July 2018Hard to believe three perfectly capable actors signed on for this project. Did they not read the script? We're they just in it for the paycheck. There simply is nothing about this film that makes it worth watching (although I did). Poorly acted, miserably directed, badly written. Just. Stay. Away.
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UniqueParticle29 March 2021Crazy how old so much of the cast is older then I know of them. I appreciate cheesy films once in awhile they are a perfect guilty pleasure to me! Such an odd story about greedy people and silly relationships; not much to it. I loved Glenne Headly unfortunate she passed away not long after this. I respect Ron Shelton's work as writer/director too.
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Grumphy14 December 2017As I've just recently been to a film festival where I watched a bunch of films knowing very little (if anything) in advance about the motion picture I was about to see and yet enjoyed every single one of them, I made a grave error thinking it could be like that with Hollywood productions. Well. Actually no. I was not thinking at all. My bad. Guess I was already in the zone for a brainless entertainment. Perfect for a demented zombie suffering from Alzheimers' disease. And I do not mean to belittle pensioners and seniors, but it seemed like this nursing home flick was intended for the nappy wearing 9 month olds than their 90 year old counterparts.
Truth to be told, I am a little too harsh on it, but only because the film was too damn basic and one dimensional. From the headlining Morgan Freeman and Tommy Lee Jones I was expecting something in the vein of 'Bucket List' perhaps. Frankly I didn't even know it was a Christmas film, which made it even worse. And though I guess my own ignorance is to blame for that one, it's still unforgivable to waste their talent on a film such as this. Christmas or not.
Perhaps the film will still be enjoyed by a few people, but in a week it will be forgotten and in years to come no TV channel will ever broadcast it over another 'Die Hard' or 'Wonderful Life' and the only place you could find it would perhaps be the old folks homes for rich people. Yet I bet they still have more interesting stuff to do than to watch this one. It might be more entertaining to be shown in a retirement home for poorer people, at least they could entertain themselves by bitching about the luxury lifestyle that they're missing.
Avoid this one like death. -
jannesjustus6 July 2020First off I want to say, I really understand why so many people did not like the movie. It's just not everyone's thing.
That being said, I really enjoyed this movie!
I love the location, like the cast, and really enjoy the feeling this movie gives.
It's true that the movie does not have a surprising story, but it equals it with good jokes.
If you're a simple fellow you will definitely enjoy this picture! -
Msbnitski22 June 2018I 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...
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FlashCallahan19 January 2018Duke is the manager of a luxury Palm Springs retirement resort, Villa Capri.
It's Christmas in the desert, and Duke's the big man on campus, until charming former military man Leo arrives and threatens to become the new alpha male.
When regional director Suzie shows up to look into some improper finances, both men turn on the charm to assert their status as top dog.
But what starts as a friendly rivalry, turns serious when men from Duke's past come back to haunt him, and kidnap Suzie in the process. Putting their rivalry aside, Duke and Leo come together to rescue Suzie, stop whoever is trying to kill them.......
Twenty years ago, this would have been a more prolific film, everyone who is in it could have easily had their roles, and more than likely, it would have had more work put into the writing and ultimately been something a little more edgier than it's finished product.
There's no need to waffle on about the cast, they are all brilliant in their own right, but here, they are clearly on autopilot to pick up an easy pay check, and to enjoy a well earned holiday.
Jones plays every character he ever has in a comedy, you can tell this because he spends the majority of the film in a silly hat and sunglasses, Freeman plays the dude with swagger, and Russo is nothing more than a plot point to get the two male leads to have a little banter.
Shelton has made some wonderful films in his career, but of late, he's gone way off track, and this has to be one of his worst efforts.
It's never funny, the action is as lethargic as it's cast, and it's biggest problem is that it's too laid back for its own good, relient on the cast and the one sheet to draw in the grey pound.
Ironically, it never gets started, its twenty years too late, and you know when the most exciting part of a film consists of a fat man sitting on a tub with a snake in it, there's little to save this bomb. -
"Just Getting Started" was directed by Ron Shelton. It's his first film since 2003's and it shows that he isn't quite on his A game. For the actors, this is one of those films where it's obvious that everyone involved is in it for the paycheck. There is no life to this senior comedy, not whatsoever. Whats worse is that movie really goes down the drain in the final thirty minutes, when it suddenly becomes an action movie. Don't waste your time on it, because it is a laugh less comedy, an excitement-free action picture and an unromantic love story.
4/10 -
I'm a huge Tommy Lee Jones and Morgan Freeman fan. They are both fantastic actors, however this film is not their finest work. The plot is an overall familiar one, two charismatic guys fight for the attention of a woman. She ultimately picks one and the other finishes with the consolation prize but finds happiness in that. Throw in the fact that someone is trying and failing to kill Freemans character in a comedic way and the 60/70 year olds acting like horny teenagers that pretty much gives you the whole story.
The writing was poor, it felt like it was left wanting. The story never really went anywhere and the little plot it did have was massively dragged out. There are a few chuckle moments but they are few and far between. I'm not sure if it is meant to be a Christmas movie or if they just needed a holiday to use to help the script along but it felt pointless including the Christmas element in to the story.
The film isn't completely awful, its just not anything special. I've only given it a 4 out of 10 mostly out of respect and love for Jones and Freeman. Don't watch it if you have something else to watch. -
erikacunanan2912 July 2018MORE REVIEWS AT booksequalhappiness.blogspot.com
REVIEW: You'd think that a movie starring Tommy Lee Jones and Morgan Freeman would be at least alright but you'd be wrong. The story wasn't something new. It wasn't funny or entertaining. The only thing that I liked was Leo's Red Ford Ranger (it was beautiful af). I don't remember much of what happened which is probably because my brain didn't want to keep it.
SHOULD YOU WATCH IT: Absolutely, not. WOULD I WATCH IT AGAIN: Absolutely, not. -
stevendbeard9 December 2017I saw "Just Getting Started", starring Morgan Freeman-Olympus Has Fallen, The Dark Knight movies; Tommy Lee Jones-Captain America:The First Avenger, Batman Forever; Rene Russo-The Thor movies, the Lethal Weapon movies and Jane Seymour-Fifty Shades of Black, Wedding Crashers. This is not a bad movie but it is pretty generic. Kind of like watching a TV sit-com or movie of the week. Morgan plays a guy that is living it up at a Palm Springs retirement home. In fact, he is the manager of the place. Jane plays a mobsters' wife that sees Morgan on TV and recognizes him as the guy who ratted out her husband, who happens to be in jail now. You see-and I'm not giving anything away here, it's in the trailer-Morgan is in witness protection. Yep, he is the rat that Jane saw on TV. About this time, Tommy shows up and moves in on Morgan's territory by being better at everything than Morgan is- poker, golf, even the women start fawning over Tommy. Then, Rene shows up. She is from corporate and is reviewing Morgan's job performance-if it's not good, he could get fired. Suddenly, attempts are made on Morgan's life. The question pops up; is one of the new arrivals a hit-man aiming to put Morgan six feet under? Or, could it be someone else? All the actors are likable and competent in their roles. It's just.... it's like watching The Love Boat or something-you know with all these recognizable older actors showing up in small cameo rolls. It's rated "PG-13" for language, violence and sexual content-no nudity-and has a running time of 1 hour & 31 minutes. I wouldn't buy it on DVD. I wouldn't rent it either. If you want to see it, I'd wait until it comes to cable TV.
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ginocox-206-33696819 February 2018"Just Getting Started" seems like some sort of sardonic reply to a question about how the screenplay is progressing. Unfortunately, the movie has already been filmed, edited and released without the major re-write needed to convert it into a truly enjoyable cinematic experience.
It lacks a protagonist, a hero. If one accepts the view that the hero is the character who undergoes the most emotional growth during the film, that role would probably be that of Rene Russo's Suzie. If one considers the protagonist to be the central character, it would be Morgan Freeman's Duke. If one argues that the hero is the character that the audience roots for and hopes to achieve his goals, it would probably be Tommy Lee Jones's Leo.
It also lacks a villain. Suzie seems as if she might be a villain or antagonist, but turns out to be more of what is called a contagonist in Dramatica theory. Leo seems like an antagonist, but is more of a sidekick or co-protagonist in a buddy film and eventually evolves into a guardian. Jane Seymour plays the aptly yclept Delilah, the shrewish wife of an imprisoned gangster who dispatches an unidentified assassin to murder Duke in an opening scene, but the assassin is too inept to pose a realistic threat and hardly a match for a pair of septuagenarians.
To compensate for this lack of clearly-defined central characters, the movie offers two trios of supporting characters in three sidekicks and three love interests.
The movie was written and directed by Ron Shelton who, back in the nineties, wrote and directed a string of comedies I've never seen or only vaguely remember, including "Bull Durham" and "Tin Cup," and wrote a couple of films I have seen, "Bad Boys II" and "The Great White Hype." TGWH was amusing, until it simply ended with a sort of deus ex machina turn of events that ran counter to the direction the narrative seemed to pursue. JGS suffers from the same malaise. It doesn't go anywhere. There is no recognizable moral or theme, no character arcs. Anybody, like myself, who likes a traditional storyline, with a sympathetic hero who must acquire new knowledge, skills, friends, or whatever, to overcome a seemingly insurmountable challenge or obstacle, will likely be disappointed.
JGS is one of the least amusing comedies I've seen in a long while. The idea of Morgan Freeman as an aging Lothario juggling the attentions of three oversexed senior citizens has potential, but falls flat in execution. A seminar on group sex for senior citizens could have been milked mercilessly, but is reduced to a one-liner. The conflict between the conflict between a roguish but likeable manager with his fingers in the till confronting a straight-laced, authoritarian efficiency expert seems like fertile grounds left fallow. The rivalry between two septuagenarians for a lady's affection might have been much funnier, if the Suzie were played by a much younger actress, perhaps in her late thirties, rather than an actress in her sixties, possibly with additional competition from a much younger suitor. Instead, they went for a politically-correct age-appropriate relationship and basically disqualified one of the suitors for unrelated reasons.
Production values are adequate and the actors do as well as can be expected with the material they were provided, but the script wasn't ready for production. -
gailcaldwell15 June 2018I was VERY SURPRISED when I saw the the low reviews and EXTREMELY negative things that was said about this movie. It isn't a Oscar winning time by no means, but it DOES NOT deserve the bad things that have been written here. The cast is really great and it's a fun and an enjoyable hour and a half. Like I said, it's no "barn burner" as far as innovation of movie plots, but it's funny at times and cute to see these actors can be silly and have a fun time. So to the others that are so mean and negative about it, LIGHTEN UP! It's a movie!
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westsideschl20 March 2018Nothing against Jones or Freeman (his voiceover on a variety of science docs are good), and I've seen most of what they've done. So, the only way this film is made is if the aforementioned are short on cash. Dialogue is middle school level; action/drama (thankfully not much of it, and the rest was mostly run time with talking heads) has been done before and much much better. Typical good guy/bad buy team up to best the adversary, and who cared. The rest of the screen time was a lot of geriatric oldies checking out slightly younger geriatric females w/tired old lines.
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lilsis-5365730 March 2021This movie is highly underrated it's hysterical from start to finish and the only thing I saw that was a little lack was the car chase that was not totally realistic but it was so slight it didn't matter. Tommy Lee Jones gives a great performance -as always and whoever wrote this movie has a great sense of humor as the lines are perfect! Morgan Freeman is better than I've ever seen him he's hysterical and how can you say anything bad about Renee Russo she's perfect! She gave as good a performance as she did in tin cup so cheers to all.👍 I think whoever the critics were that rated this movie were either too young to get the humor or they're just nuts all together because it's a really solid movie from beginning to end! Hysterical 👍👍
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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.
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wookietower20 August 2018Really disappointed based on the potential of this movie with the cast assembled. So many great actors put to waste in this this completely unfunny agonizing film. Didn't even seem like any of the actors wanted to be there as they forced their way through their performances. Script was awful with barely a laugh throughout.
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chantaldmorgan31 July 2018Terrible movie...can't believe these great actors would have entertained such a trrrible script. I want the time & money I wasted on this terrible film back.
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joel-7993328 March 2018I will always pay to see Morgan Freeman in a movie, always. I even paid to see 10 items or less. This movie he did for a friend or something, it's the same feeling you get from seeing Stallone do anything in the last 5 years. I could not finish this. I honestly enjoyed the IMDB Danny Trejo talk 100 times more than "just getting started". Rene Russo still has that something something going on but poor Joe Pantoliano never took off his hat once. We're all losing our hair, embrace it. His history in the Sopranos gives him a lifetime pass in my book. Looking forward to seeing him in 15 rounds. I suspect that's where his hat came from.