The Old Man

2022 - 6 - 16

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'The Old Man' review: Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow bring life to the ... (CNN)

The spy genre is so well worn one would think there's not much new to be done, but "The Old Man" largely confounds those expectations, thanks to the stellar ...

There's nothing particularly novel about the scenario, but nor does there really need to be. When Chase warns his daughter, "You don't know how ugly these things can get when they get ugly," he isn't kidding. Bridges' CIA operative Dan Chase has been in hiding for years, living off the grid for reasons that gradually begin to come into shape through flashbacks.

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Jeff Bridges "The Old Man" interview: Oscar winner discusses new ... (Salon)

On"Salon Talks," the actor lets us know what he thinks about The Dude and how his new role is related.

I guess we all have in common that we're alive, and there's a common denominator there, certainly. Well, the character is in a movie that is a classic movie. It wasn't necessarily new stuff, but I found that all of my philosophies about life and ideas of spirituality and different strategies that have worked in my life in the past, all of those were kicked into overdrive. But you know how you're told a story when you were a kid and you've told the story and you don't know, am I telling what actually happened? On the one hand, I would imagine if I were in your shoes, you're both reassuring people, but on the other hand, as a human being, I would also be tempted to think, "Hey, everybody, I'm OK. You don't have to keep asking it." Now that I think of it, it's kind of like playing a part. What is it like for you to answer these questions over and over again about the state of your health? I know that you have answered a lot of questions about your health. And I show up on the set with the same cast and the same crew, and it seems like we had a long weekend and I had this bizarre dream. . . . All the scenes were given appropriate amounts of time, and the quality of the writing and the directing and acting was all top notch. In the middle of shooting "The Old Man," we took a two-year break. Well, this time of life, the word that comes to mind is a dream.

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The Old Man release date and time — how to watch online right now (Tom's Guide)

And most Thomas Perry fans (and folks who love Jeff Bridges) may have already known that. This new series, which finds Bridges playing former CIA agent Dan ...

Our friends across the pond will watch The Old Man on a service that might be surprising. The 30-plus channels in the lineup include AMC, CNN, Food Network, AMC, Comedy Central, HGTV and many more. It starts at $35 per month (opens in new tab), includes many more networks than just FX, and is customizable for add-on packages. Either way, you can watch with one of the best streaming services. He's got one of his up-and-coming agents Angela Adams (Alia Shawkat, in a role to make us forget the name Maeby Fünke) along for the ride. Oh, and Harper's also recruited CIA Special Agent Raymond Waters (E.J. Bonilla) for the hunt.

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'The Old Man' Brought Jeff Bridges to TV. John Lithgow Had No ... (The New York Times)

The two award-winning actors had never worked together before this brooding FX thriller came along. Who knew the journey would become so existential?

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FX on Hulu's The Old Man is a Bold, Wise Vehicle for Jeff Bridges ... (Roger Ebert)

A review of the FX on Hulu series, starring Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow.

Many stories can use scenes of characters talking on the phone to more or less fill in the blanks, but “The Old Man” has many such conversations that ache, that are fused with mystery, and that make the story even bigger than its international scale. (When Chase got his head slammed against a kitchen cabinet, I audibly responded with a big “Damn,” fully caught up in the series’ body-slamming action.) His physicality is reflective of the power within his performance, displaying a rawness we've not yet seen before from Bridges. The first two stunning episodes are directed by Jon Watts, most known for the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies, and this story takes him back to the more brutal and restrained work like his pre-Marvel film “ Cop Car.” Watts can still conjure some uncomfortable violence, with a creeping dread accompanying our uncertainty of how a brutal fight will end. Relationships are their own stories, and this series has many that are shrouded in secrecy, so much that they are used for twists that only heighten just how personal this is for everyone. Chase and Harper go farther back than they want to remember, to a messy deal in the Middle East and the killing of Russians, but for "the wrong side." Bridges' character is a man of mystery known by many names, but he most famously goes by Dan Chase. When we first meet him, Chase is living in a quiet town with his two very obedient Rottweilers, taking worried phone calls from his daughter about his lessening condition.

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How to Watch 'The Old Man': Where to Stream the Jeff Bridges Thriller (Collider.com)

Here's how you can watch Jeff Bridges in the new thriller series The Old Man, where it's streaming, what it's about, and more.

But his plans of living the rest of his life out peacefully are violently crushed when after years of hiding, the U.S. government discovers his whereabouts and arrives at his house with the intention to capture him. The Old Man is available to watch on both the FX network and on Hulu. It’s up to you to choose where to watch, as it will simultaneously premiere on FX on June 16 and be made available to stream on Hulu at the same time. Thanks to its stars, Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer, alongside its quick-witted dialogue written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Killing Eve broke the bleak, dark mold of spy thrillers by bringing some much-needed laughter into the carnage. She finds what she’s looking for in Rooster, and together they set out across the west for vengeance, and Bridges is pitch-perfect as an embittered, horseback riding, gun-wielding antihero. Chase is forced to wear the cold-blooded assassin hat that he donned all those years ago when he served as an agent during the Cold War, and he and his two dogs quickly become a force to be reckoned with. On the television side of things as well, there seems to be a never-ending supply of espionage and fast-talking spies jumping from cliffhanger to cliffhanger. The trailer for The Old Man is sleek with rogue spies, government assassins, and an old man who’s sick and tired of running. The Old Man will premiere its first two episodes on FX Thursday, June 16, 2022, beginning at 10 PM ET/PT on the network. We’re first introduced to Dan Chase as he drives down an ominous road in his van with his two sweet but tough rottweilers, and pulls out a gun. Chase's trusty rottweilers accompany him everywhere, and they often prove to be excellent sidekicks as the trio speeds down highways followed in hot pursuit. Brenneman plays Zoe McDonald, a divorced woman who allows Chase to live as a guest tenant in her home while he hides out, and Shawkat portrays Angela Adams, an ambitious FBI Agent working alongside Harper who wants to prove her worth. Based on the 2017 Thomas Perry novel of the same name, Bridges stars as former CIA operative Dan Chase as he’s dragged back into a world of killing when his past comes knocking.

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Image courtesy of "Thrillist"

FX's 'The Old Man' Lets Jeff Bridges Show Off His Particular Set of ... (Thrillist)

Oscar-winner Jeff Bridges gets to show off his action chops in this often gripping spy series, 'The Old Man.'

Scenes that might play as exposition-dumps in a more streamlined film or a conventional network shoot-em-up are given space and time to let the performers find nuance, humor, and personality in the writing. The intricacies of that history, which involves a lifetime of intelligence work and a shady series of missions in Afghanistan in the '80s, get slowly teased out in flashbacks and in conversations with slightly ornery, occasionally tender FBI director Harold Harper, played with a melancholy touch by John Lithgow. The specifics of why Chase is now getting hunted by the organization that trained him are some of the least compelling parts of this show. Though it arrives in prestige TV packaging—adapted from a novel, pilot directed by an A-lister, and anchored around a star best known for feature film work—The Old Man, FX's new spy thriller starring Jeff Bridges as a now-retired CIA hotshot who has to go on the run, isn't that different in concept or premise from a number of VOD action titles. Even as it ponders questions of death and mortality, emphasizing the creaky bones of its battered protagonist, The Old Man moves like it has all the time in the world. His gait, his ability to listen, and his pleasing stillness suggest a man who can feel comfortable anywhere. (There's a cute name for the ones they barely show up in: the " geezer teaser."

Review: 'The Old Man' is worth watching for Jeff Bridges' performance (NPR)

FX's The Old Man can be predictable, but the performance by star Jeff Bridges — who plays a retired CIA operative living under a fake name — makes it ...

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The Old Man Cast: Where You've Seen The FX Series Stars Before (Cinema Blend)

Jeff Bridges (Dan Chase) · John Lithgow (Harold Harper) · Amy Brenneman (Zoe McDonald) · Alia Shawkat (Angela Adams) · E.J. Bonilla (Raymond Waters) · Gbenga ...

Heck started out making guest appearances on shows like Numb3rs and NCIS before making his feature film debut with Nonames in 2010, and landed a starring role on NBC’s short-lived Taxi Brooklyn in 2014. After making his superhero movies debut with 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as an unnamed pilot, he voiced X-Men character Gambit on an audio drama called Wolverine: The Long Night in 2019. Look for his name in just about any article related to Batman. Akinnagbe has made notable recurring TV appearances on Showtime’s Nurse Jackie, FX’s Damages, USA’s Graceland, and CBS’ The Good Wife, to name a few. As Zoe McDonald, a recent divorcée who rents out a room to Chase, we have Amy Brenneman - whose previous action genre credits include Michael Mann’s Heat, Daylight with Sylvester Stallone, and her two-time Emmy-nominated performance on NYPD Blue in the 1990s. Dan Chase (the titular “Old Man”) is executive producer Jeff Bridges’ first major role following his battle with lymphoma - a diagnosis that shocked millions in 2020. What followed was several notable guest spots and recurring roles on hit seres like Blue Bloods, Revenge, Unforgettable, and Bull, to name just a few. But, we shall begin with the Academy Award winning lead in our following breakdown of who plays whom in the action-packed new show. Jason has been writing since he was able to pick up a washable marker, with which he wrote his debut illustrated children's story, later transitioning to a short-lived comic book series and (very) amateur filmmaking before finally settling on pursuing a career in writing about movies in lieu of making them. Special ops contractor Julian Carson (another person tracking Chase) is played by Gbenga Akinnagbe, who made his debut in HBO’s The Wire cast as “Officer in Courtroom” before being given a recurring role as Chris Partlow in 2004 and, later, starring on the short-lived series adaptation of Barbershop. His feature film debut was the 2007 Oscar-nominated dramedy, The Savages, which he followed with the 2009 remake of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, the Mel Gibson-led thriller Edge of Darkness, and the comedy, Lottery Ticket, in 2010. Shawkat made her feature film debut in 1999’s Three Kings, first led her own series at 12 with State of Grace on Freeform (when it was still called ABC Family), and went on to gain a reputation as a versatile talent with movies like Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, Whip It, or series like Transparent on Amazon Prime and Big Mouth on Netflix. She most recently starred in the Being the Ricardos cast as I Love Lucy writer Madelyn Pugh. Playing retired FBI agent Harold Harper is John Lithgow - another beloved leading man with two Academy Award nominations under his belt (for The World According to Garp and Terms of Endearment). He has, however, won several Emmy Awards - including one for the original Amazing Stories in the 1980s, three for 3rd Rock from the Sun, one as the Trinity Killer from the Dexter cast, and one as Winston Churchill on Netflix’s The Crown.

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The Old Man Series-Premiere Recap: On the Run (Vulture)

Dan Chase is an old, grizzled ex-CIA operative with a very special set of skills — and a very checkered past. A recap of episode one and the series premiere ...

Soon enough, Chase is using Chekhov’s knife to cut his zip-ties and cause the arresting agent to lose control of the car. A battered but triumphant Chase sluggishly crawls out of the vehicle while the agent screams, struggles, and eventually succumbs to death by Rottweiler(s). Enough history that despite consulting on the operation to retrieve Chase, Harper is also doing everything in his power to ensure Chase is never found. They like phone calls on this show.) It’s Chase, and he has a message for his onetime colleague: Stay away from his daughter, unless Harper wants his agents to become Dave and Carol’s next meal. Isn’t that the whole point of a spy thriller? In flashback, we meet Young Dan Chase (Bill Heck; admirably not doing a Jeff Bridges impression) and Young Abbey Chase (Leem Lubany), who are here to toss us a few more backstory deets. Back in the present day, Chase gets a call on his burner flip phone. John Lithgow’s face slowly turns ashen as Waters describes how in 1987, an operative went MIA, and now, the CIA has been ordered to “retrieve him.” Harper, who absolutely knows Waters is talking about Dan Chase, is noticeably ruffled over this turn of events, stressing that this case was “resolved, sealed for three decades,” to no avail. Chase, with an assist from Rottweilers Dave and Carol, swiftly disposes of Café Guy before making it look like a self-defense killing, pocketing the intruder’s knife in the process. I say this because much of the series’ premiere is regrettably bogged down with character and plot establishment, and it’s only Dave and Carol, and, Bridges’s and Lithgow’s eminence that kept me from dismissing The Old Man as a predictable addition to an already-bloated TV landscape. Like many men his age, Chase is beset by nocturnal urinary issues and nightmares of his sick wife. Lithgow is Harold Harper, the old, grizzled FBI boss juggling his official mission to track down Chase while keeping his own unauthorized decisions under wraps.

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The Old Man Premiere Recap: He's Still Got Some Fight in Him (Plus ... (TVLine)

Recap: Jeff Bridges plays an aging ex-CIA asset in the new FX thriller 'The Old Man'... but don't count the old guy out just yet.

Dan gets the guy in a chokehold, but the guy fights him off and eventually gets the best of Dan, typing him up with zip ties and stuffing him in the back seat of his car. A bruised but not defeated Dan calls Harper to give him a stern warning: “Any more you send to me, I’m sending back in bags. He gets out and shoots the badly wounded guy dead before getting into a fierce hand-to-hand fight with the other guy, lit only by the cars’ brake lights. He tells the cops the intruder shot at him first, and he shot back in self-defense. Downstairs, one of his dogs pounces on an intruder, holding the guy by the throat until Dan calls him off. That night — after a dream where we learn the woman in the bathroom is Abby, agitated and confused — he wakes up to the sound of cans rattling, and he snaps out of bed, gun drawn.

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The Old Man Recap: Scrambled Eggs (Vulture)

Again, it's not that Dan Chase and Harold Harper aren't compelling; they're played by Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow. In the hands of lesser actors, however, ...

While in bed with Zoe, Chase continues to be haunted by a dementia-riddled Abbey, his nightmares alluding to the idea that the Chase marriage had a dark side. We don’t hear his dialogue, but we don’t need more details other than Zoe’s insistence that she “paid it” and that “everything should be square in the bursar’s office.” She then notices a police checkpoint up ahead, and since she’s behind the wheel, she worries about that second glass of wine. It’s not going to turn out well because thanks to that police checkpoint, Harper is now in possession of Chase’s location, as well as a copy of Zoe’s driver’s license. Late night at the FBI: Angela presents some bad news to her boss: A police report confirms Dan Chase’s daughter died in 2003 by suicide, thus destroying Harper’s leverage over his target. He whips her up a real meal, all the while talking to her about how cooking for someone can “soften the hardest of hearts.” Of course, this tactic works, though not before Zoe shares her own anecdote about her mother cooking her scrambled eggs to cheer her up. This is Zoe’s first “first date” since the George H.W. Bush administration, and Chase drops a hint about how it was love at first sight with his late wife, but the situation was too “complicated” to act on it immediately. Eventually, her husband grew to resent her, leaving her for another woman, and she’s still wallowing in the guilt. At his age, one doesn’t bounce back from a roadside three-against-one beatdown so quickly, even if you are ex-CIA. Having shed his “Dan Chase” identity, he’s now “Peter Caldwell,” and he’s recuperating in small-town Pennsylvania by renting a guest house from Brenneman’s character, Zoe, who turns out to have plenty of her own demons. Zoe’s story is complicated too: She was always lukewarm about her marriage, and she let it fester until it became untenable. This scene is crucial, though, because it’s where we find out that at some point, Chase betrayed Faraz Hamzad, and now Hamzad is out for revenge. To buy himself time, he cooks up a story about needing a tow truck just so he can charm the shit out of his landlady. That and Dan Chase’s real name is “Johnny.”

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What to stream this weekend: 'The Old Man,' 'Summer I Turned Pretty' (UPI.com)

Among other highlights this weekend, Netflix will air the film, The Martha Mitchell Effect, featuring documentary footage of the Cabinet wife, known as "Martha ...

It will premiere on Friday. The film is based on the Jenny Han novel of the same name. Han is also known for the To All the Boys book series. It will stream on Saturday on Hulu. Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award winner and Oscar winner Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), who has recently gone through health scares with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and COVID-19, stars as Dan Chase, a man who has absconded from the CIA decades ago and is living off the grid, but is driven out of hiding and must reconcile with his past. It will premiere on Friday. She was the wife of John Mitchell, who served as U.S. attorney general during Nixon's first term and later transitioned to working on his re-election campaign. 'The Ledge' -- Hulu

Review: 'The Old Man' is worth watching for Jeff Bridges' performance (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: Oscar winner Jeff Bridges returns to series TV for the first time in a long while. In the FX series "The Old Man," he plays a senior ...

The pleasure comes from watching the incredibly watchable Bridges play a character that seems an embodiment of his current state, an old master always capable of making you care one more time. DEGGANS: Not too much foreshadowing, huh (ph)? FX's "The Old Man" follows a well-worn path with surprises you'll likely guess before the show gets around to revealing them. Maybe the only one who can play that role is the one who can't see it happening. In the FX series "The Old Man," he plays a senior citizen with some surprises up his sleeve. He's struggling to keep up with his medications, his two faithful pet dogs and his grown daughter, who senses something isn't quite right with dear old dad during a phone conversation. Oscar winner Jeff Bridges returns to series TV for the first time in a long while.

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How to watch The Old Man online: stream the new FX series starring ... (Techradar)

Jeff Bridges is an ex-CIA operative whose murky past finally catches up with him in new FX thriller. Our guide explains how to watch The Old Man online from ...

Hulu (opens in new tab) plans are available from just $6.99 a month. All you need to do is login with your cable provide details. International streams: FX Now (opens in new tab) (CA) Episodes will then air weekly until the series finale on July 21. Chase is soon contacted by former FBI acquaintance Harold Harper (Lithgow), who provides him with an ultimatum to keep their dark deeds a secret: vanish immediately and never contact his family again, otherwise his daughter Emily will find herself in danger. After a number of setbacks, US TV thriller series The Old Man finally comes screeching to our screens, promising a full-throttle, edge-of-your-seat experience about an ex-CIA operative on the run from his murky past.

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Keeping an Eye on The Old Man's Dogs (Vulture)

If I asked you whether your favorite character in FX's The Old Man was Jeff Bridges's grizzled former CIA operative Dan Chase or John Lithgow's grizzled FBI ...

Later that night, the dogs end up in the midst of a real dustup when Chase confronts two CIA operatives — they come to his aid with a whistle and chomp a guy! But their addition to the cast also creates a great deal of tension for those of us who would rather be in a minor car accident with no injuries than see a good dog die on screen. Chase brings these dogs everywhere: restaurants, apartment rentals, gun fights with much younger CIA dudes — and they are very good in each scenario, yes they are!

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Boomer Spy Thriller 'The Old Man' Is Elevated By Stellar Casting (Reason)

Every member of the cast is explosively talented—so much so that some of them seem seriously underutilized.

Chase makes a quick getaway, but the trail of corpses he leaves behind makes Harper realize that the case is not going to fade away as he hoped, and his own career will be more secure if Chase is dead rather than in custody. In the early going, The Old Man seems like a skilled but predictable shoot-'em-up, full of exquisitely staged violent encounters that erupt without warning. The early scenes, with Bridges playing Dan Chase, a slightly doddering suburban widower who spends his time seeing doctors in hopes of warding off the infirmities of old age, not only set a soon-to-be-shattered tone but offer important clues about what's to come. At the ages of 72 and 76, respectively, Bridges (whose television career began an astonishing 64 years ago) and Lithgow both offer transfixing performances as a pair of ex-spooks who can't let go of an ancient feud from their covert days in Afghanistan three decades ago. Jeff Bridges as a long-disappeared CIA paramilitary man and John Lithgow as a formerly friendly boss who's trying to hunt him down and kill him offer thrills, spills, and bloody chills in equally gripping doses. And watching a couple of the better ones rage against the dying of the light in FX's The Old Man is about as good a television experience as you can possibly have this summer.

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Is The Old Man on Netflix? Where to stream the Jeff Bridges thriller (Netflix Life)

Today, audiences can stream The Old Man on Hulu upon subscription. Learn where else you can watch the 2022 thriller here.

However, for now, it’s probably best to check out the other similar titles Netflix has to offer to pass the time. Of course, the future could change, meaning you’ll be able to see Bridges star as a ruthless outlaw on your screens at any moment. No matter the result, this show is sure to have you perplexed about which side to take.

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The Old Man: Season One Ratings (TV Series Finale)

It's been a while since FX introduced a new scripted series. Will The Old Man stick around and run for many years or, is it designed to last just one year?

The higher the ratings, the better the chances for survival. Will The Old Man be cancelled or renewed for season two? Will The Old Man stick around and run for many years or, is it designed to last just one year?

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