Review: Just Getting Started

Morgan Freeman plays the easy-going manager of a Palm Springs resort with a mostly retired clientele. He rules the roost with a band of cronies that includes Joe ‘Joey Pants’ Pantoliano, Graham Beckel, and George Wallace. However, two people walk into the resort who will provide great discomfort to Freeman’s cushy little existence: 1) Rene Russo as a representative of the resort’s owner looking into how Freeman has been running things, and 2) Retired FBI hard-arse Tommy Lee Jones, soon to be Freeman’s rival in just about every pursuit, including romantic. This means the two idiot geriatric males competing for the affections of the likes of Elizabeth Ashley, Glenne Headly, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and eventually even Russo. Jane Seymour turns up as a mobster’s wife who has it in for former mob lawyer Freeman. Johnny Mathis briefly plays himself and sings.

 

Writer-director Ron Shelton (“Bull Durham”, “Tin Cup”) must be a heck of a nice guy, because there’s no other reason why any of the familiar names and faces would’ve signed on for this dreadful 2017 geriatric comedy. Morgan Freeman is in too many of these all-star ‘old folks’ films, but he seems to be enjoying himself being silly here. The joy is all his own, I think he’s miscast in one of his worst performances to date. The guy just isn’t funny, at least not here. No one aside from the late Glenne Headly is remotely funny here, and sadly Headly (in her final film) isn’t in the thing nearly enough to do much salvage work. Joey Pants, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and the enduring Elizabeth Ashley are wasted. The lovely and talented Rene Russo is saddled with a handbag dog for a comic prop and shares a surprising lack of chemistry with her “Outbreak” co-star Freeman. It’s a terrible role and she can’t do a damn thing with it, unfortunately. An unconvincing Jane Seymour appears to be in another – even worse – film altogether acting like a third-rate Joan Collins, not a good avenue for her. She also phones in her performance almost literally. An ill-sounding Tommy Lee Jones looks utterly miserable and is in full paycheck mode. What on Earth is doing here? Poor old Johnny Mathis meanwhile, sings just about every damn Christmas song except the one you’re waiting to hear (The lovely ‘When A Child is Born’). Speaking of Christmas, the Yuletide theme/setting is horribly integrated. This is a truly horrible mess from Shelton. It’s lethargically paced, it takes forever for Freeman and Jones to reveal their true selves, which really ought to have been done in the first quarter of the film. Shelton has cobbled it together with a sledgehammer.

 

There must be one hell of a story behind the making of this film. These are all smart and talented people, and this is one dumb, badly made film. Sluggish as hell, I was bored out of my mind. I don’t get this film, I don’t get why Shelton wrote and directed it, nor why any of the cast members would’ve signed on for it outside of working for Shelton. Embarrassing.

 

Rating: D