Jim Grant (Robert Redford) is an older dad who focuses on raising his eleven year old daughter after her mother’s death. Nobody in the community would know that years ago he was part of a gang called “The Weathermen” who violently protested Viet Nam, Kent State and all that defined our 60s culture. He’s been on the Most Wanted list for more than a quarter century.
But when Sharon Solarz (Susan Sarandon) turns herself in, a young reporter (Shia LaBeaouf) begins to puzzle things together, and learns a lot more than Redford would have intended. Stanley Tucci is LaBeouf’s boss, uncertain that he should put all his trust into his reporter’s leads.
When Redford has to go on the run, he leaves his daughter in the care of his brother, Chris Cooper, leaving the police… run by an FBI agent (Terrence Howard) on his tail.
What has all the makings of an exciting film with the right dose of Bourne Identity espionage, somehow misses its mark. It could be that Redford (taking a cue from Clint Eastwood who has a need to bare his senior citizen chest) shouldn’t, it could be that Redford, the Sundance kid, isn’t the sexy cowboy he used to be. But whatever it is, it would have helped if his love interest, Mimi (Julie Christie) was softer. Redford is known for his ‘memories’ type romances as well as his President’s men, somehow this film misses on both political and romantic counts. The story doesn’t wrap up loose ends, either and it feels forced, despite its message that our past demons eventually barge through the closet door.
All that said, it’s Nick Nolte, of all people that surfaces from his past gang, seeming the most authentic without being more than the lovable loser we’ve grown to know. ♔ ♕