Vashirdfel
Simply A Masterpiece
MoPoshy
Absolutely brilliant
BelSports
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
HotToastyRag
In their younger days, Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster made six films together, and in their final pairing Tough Guys, they're absolutely adorable. They play bank robbers, released from prison after thirty years. Since the last time they saw the outside world was the mid-1950s, they're shocked by the culture they now see!Yes, both former hunks have a few miles on them and a different hair color than they used to, but both of them look fantastic and are full of vigor and charm. Burt Lancaster gets sent to an old folks' home, but rest assured he won't be happy with the restrictive rules. He's got plenty of fight left in him, ladies! And you girls who had crushes on Kirk Douglas will delight in seeing him adapt to his new surroundings, including 80s fashions, nightclubs, and a relationship with a younger woman.Tough Guys is hilarious and super cute, and a must-see for Burt or Kirk fans. They're both wonderful in this classic "old guys still got it" movie. Once you watch it, you'll want to watch it over and over again, to relive your favorite moments involving ice cream, dance clubs, food fights, and more. James Orr and Jim Cruickshank's script is chalk-full of fantastic one-liners, seamlessly blending the generation gap between the '50s and the '80s. It's got comedy, romance, a touch of drama, action, and suspense-it's got it all, but it wouldn't be anything without it's two leading men, the two tough guys.
VanillaLimeCoke
It is very rare that the movie's first line will sum the entire movie up, but Kenny Rogers song of "They Don't Make 'em like they used to" sums this one up.They really don't make movies like this anymore, although this was nearly 30 years ago to this date. I was fortunate to go to London and get this on DVD where it was available there back in 2007, around the same time I had discovered about region free DVD players and secret codes on Region 1 DVD players.I was told this film really wasn't the best, and well it really isn't Oscar worthy but they really don't seem to make films like this anymore. This film was made in 1986 but had more of an older feeling to it something you might see on PBS, but it still is very entertaining funny.The plot has Harry Doyle (Burt Lancaster) and Archie Long (Kirk Douglas) as two old guys finishing a 30 year prison sentence for robbing a train, and now have to face a new world. They have a very friendly but firm parole officer named Richie (played by Dana Carvey which I believe might be his very first major role), but like I said has to be firm because his boss Yablonski (played by Charles Durning) who originally busted the two is on his tail. And to make it more humorous his boss is on him telling him to take it easy and focus on his easy job of computer records. Plus there's this hero like guy who resents the two paroled Leon B. Little (Eli Wallach) who's trying to kill them.Of course being on parole is really like being on a leash, Archie Long is given a job whilst luckily Harry gets retirement checks but has to live in a very boring rest home. The two basically envy each other for that, the other wanting a job and the other wanting to sit back and relax. That's another common thing, even though these two are best friends they argue a lot with each other.Getting out into the real world that's now 30 years older than they remembered isn't easy, but they seem to be good at it, although not as good as they used to be or want to be. Harry has to deal with living a boring rest home with very sloppy boring food and following a very strict schedule.Archie's first job does not go well in an ice cream store, where this one kid tries to pull every 'the customer is right' antic in the book on him. Archie ends up throwing ice cream in his face. The second job does not go any better as on the second day 3 customers and his boss jump on him with demands at once; this leads to Archie giving them the demands in a peculiar fashion, but what really is funny is how the 3rd customer is laughing his head off until Archie approaches him, the customer a bit more sedated has a look of, 'I'm dead now, but it was worth it'Going to a clothing store is at a loss for Archie when he's told their colors are peach, avocado, mocha, cherry, and etc, which Archie replies, "I don't want to eat the suit, I just want to wear it."Those are just a few funny scenes in this 1 hour 45 minute film. This is definitely a rare gem.The only thing I found annoying was the character Leon B. Little. He was annoying IMO, and basically seemed to curse every chance he got. While he was funny at times, he just seemed too uppity for his own good. But overall definitely a solid gem that I would strongly recommend seeing if you enjoy comedy flicks.
policy134
There was an emphasis on making buddy movies in the 80's and Disney under the Touchstone banner was probably one of the biggest contributors to this genre in that decade. Not only did they make this film but also Stakeout and the very poor, even though it was a minor hit, Outrageous Fortune.Here we have Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster. Although, Kirk Douglas is given first credit, the emphasis is on Burt Lancaster's character, Harry Doyle. As a man who has been in prison for most of his adult life and is getting old, you could go a lot of directions with the character. Lancaster plays it beautifully and never once do you think that he is playing it for laughs as I'm sure many lesser talents would do. Kirk Douglas on the other hand is given less to play with. A man, who tries to keep up but ultimately is pretty much out of step. He gets a younger girlfriend but the storyline is a bit hackneyed and does not contain one single thing that couldn't be predicted.Meanwhile, Lancaster gets to have some fun with an old flame. Not to say that this story is anymore interesting to see than the Douglas romance but it is sweet.The thing to admire here is Douglas' and Lancaster's dealing with their antagonists which consists of basically everybody they meet, save for the two ladies and one caring probation officer (Dana Carvey in a rare unfunny performance). They seem to take the approach that so what if they have enemies and I can see why. Their foes are made to look pretty ridiculous and absolutely no threat. The great Charles Durning, plays a cop who wants to nail them one more time but not so much because he think they are bad but to prove something to himself. And then as a capper, we get Eli Wallach as a near blind and almost totally insane hit-man. Bravo. This has to be his most funny performance ever. Not for one moment can you take him serious as a hit-man but Douglas and Lancaster, gents as they are, do let him think so.
ccthemovieman-1
It was nice to see aging superstars Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas together as a pair of old train robbers back on the streets after 30 years in jail. However, the story is a little hard to take with any credibility and - call me old-fashioned - I didn't care to see and hear a couple of "classic film" stars involved in modern-day sleaze.As someone who has seen thousands of classic films, it just seems odd to see two famous actors in a film like this with the profanity and sex, although I had already seen Lancaster in "Atlantic City" (1980). Still, seeing a hot 25-year-old falling for Douglas and the two having sex all night, was a little strange to witness. The major part of the "credibility gap," however, was how unreal they made all the other characters in the film. All these two guys confront, after getting out of jail, are horrible people, unrealistically horrible, one after the other. Everyone is incredibly rude, obnoxious and just plain nasty to our two old friends. It's overdone so much it's ridiculous. The world can be a bad place, but, come on - it's not THAT bad!The story was that people were so rotten and that life was so miserable that the two fellas were forced to go back into bank robbing. Ahhh, what an inspiring story!!
