The Old Man review: Jeff Bridges brings a manual thriller to Disney+

William Gibson said that “memory and time move in two opposite directions” and I think there are few phrases that better define The Old Man, the new television series that is available on Disney Plus. Because the memories and the passing of the years may have once been friends, but now they have definitively buried any armistice.

The The Old Man series is created by Robert Levine and Jonathan E. Steinberg. Said this way, it may sound like generic American names to you. However, if I tell you that they are the creators of Black Sails, then things change and your interest goes from zero percent to a much higher number. I’m sure of it.

Disney Plus has already released the first two episodes of The Old Man and there is one thing that is more than clear in those two hours of duration -one hour per episode-: Jeff Bridges continues to have a major audiovisual impact. In that sense, neither memory nor time. Jeff Bridges is still a real animal.

To top it off, he has John Lithgow at his side. The series is a showcase for the waste of interpretive talent on the part of both. A talent that shapes this conventional thriller that my mother would have defined as “a spy, but with old men.” And you can say higher, but not with such transparency.

that’s basically The Old Man: one of spies, but with older gentlemen. However, as we revealed at the beginning with the quote from Gibson, memory and time play a fundamental role in the development of the plot. A plot that becomes slow, heavy and at times soporific, but that is functional for most of the time.

The tact of the images, the dense montage and the solidity in the gestures of the great protagonist of the series have inevitably reminded me of Alexander Payne. In the end, art is objective, but its consumption is not. Nebraska it’s one of my favorite movies. I have not been able to remember her and Bruce Dern in the first bars.

Perhaps I have missed more emotional stimulation from The Old Man. It had all the ingredients to turn the plot into a labyrinth of mirrors where memory and time —again with Gibson— were traps, not a map on the skin of Jeff Bridges. More Antonio Muñoz Molina and more literature compared to the action thriller.

There is not Beatus Ille here, but there is a guarantee of reliability when it comes to cinematic quality. And I say “cinematic” because, although we have become accustomed to this, it is surprising to find television series that look like movies. If it were the other way around, I think it would be more of a concern.

But what is the story of The Old Man on Disney Plus? Well, as we said, there is an older man. This older gentleman seems to exhibit symptoms of dementia, but it turns out that he is a former CIA agent who disappeared from society. On his day they looked for him, but did not find him. The case was filed. He now he has attracted attention again.

At first glance, as I have said previously, we are looking at an espionage thriller that has a manual in hand and has its turn signals on. Beyond its indie movie character at first, the rest is like climbing a track. However, the power of the interpretations is what gives character and volume to the rest.

Have I needed more complexity, more risk, more excitement? Yes, of course. Jeff Bridges is in the way, how can I not ask for much more if I have not been able to forget Comanchería and six years have passed since its premiere.

Does this story really need that “much more” that I ask of it? Obviously not. The story of The Old Man advances with a firm step, clinging to a ground furrowed with footprints and hoping that its protagonist is attractive enough not to prefer to leave to see what’s on Netflix.

From my point of view, I think it does. But hey, don’t pay much attention to me either. After all, I just turned thirty. The thing about memory, time and the damn calendar has me a little pissed off.

Life doesn’t taste the same anymore since I hear the voice of Álvaro Urquijo singing “when I pass near a school” and it’s heartbreaking and nostalgic, not funny. Yes indeed, Jeff Bridges still seems absolutely crazy to me. So give The Old Man a try.