It’s easy to confuse legendary actor Jeff Bridges with his most well-known on-screen alter ego, Jeffrey ‘The Dude’ Lebowski; his amiable public persona certainly maps onto the Coen brothers’ iconic slacker closely enough. Lebowski fans might be shocked by the first episode of The Old Man, which wastes little time in showing us a grizzled Bridges calmy dispatching a helpless man with two quick bullets to the chest.
Waste no tears, though; the man in question is a would-be assassin, and Bridges is not The Dude here; he’s Dan Chase (or is he?) a former CIA operative who’s been hiding out for thirty-odd years, living a quiet life until his murky past catches up with him, as murky pasts are wont to do. What’s an aged but able black ops veteran to do but once again employ his special set of skills to convince those on his trail that they’ve made a terrible mistake?
Life is about to catch up with Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges). Credit: Prashant Gupta / FX
Adapted from Thomas Perry’s 2017 novel of the same name, The Old Man could be mistaken for the latest in a long line of action fodder centred on ageing stars who seem keen – and occasionally desperate – to prove they can kick the requisite number of butts and take an impressive list of names. Liam Neeson’s post-Taken career is the ur-example, but Clint Eastwood has been doing it for longer (and far too long). Bridges’ Chase, who we learn went rogue during the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan, certainly cuts a fine figure as he settles the hash of men half his age and tests his tactical skills against the entire US intelligence apparatus.
But there’s more to it than that. Chase isn’t just The Old Man, he’s an old man, struggling to pull on his socks and popping pills to ward off cognitive decline. He’s also burdened with a lifetime’s worth of regrets and grief – including the wife he nursed through dementia and the daughter he talks to on the phone but seemingly never sees.
Or is that all smoke and mirrors?
Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) with his dogs. Credit: Kurt Iswarienko / FX
The Old Man cants into ambiguous moral territory fairly quickly. We see how brutally pragmatic Chase is when threatened, and that his beloved pet Rottweilers are trained attack dogs. When circumstances force him to take along Amy Brenneman’s divorcee as a partner/hostage, we’re genuinely worried for her – especially when Chase ruminates that his two key skills are the ability to read people and present what it is they really want, coupled with the absolute ruthlessness required to use that knowledge against them. He’s a man who has lived in a nested box of identities for decades – are we merely seeing yet another? Does that disarming, avuncular smile ever reach his eyes?
Alia Shawkat as Angela Adams. Credit: Kurt Iswarienko / FX
On his trail is FBI Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Harold Harper, played by John Lithgow, aided by his protégé, ambitious agent Angela Adams (Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat). An old Cold War colleague turned nemesis, Lithgow’s Harper is also dealing with the fact of his age and thinking deep thoughts about his legacy and how it might be tainted if the dirty dealings he and Chase got up to back in the day ever got dragged into the light. This is largely articulated in a scene wherein his old mentor (played by Cabaret’s Joel Grey, no less – the cast is worth the ticket alone) clues him into some more lethal options at his disposal, should running Chase to ground prove difficult.
For all its action and suspense, its jargon-heavy technothriller stylings and allusions to clandestine geopolitical manoeuvring, The Old Man is at its best in its quieter moments, when its actors are just being the characters they portray, saddled with the weight of years and wondering what becomes of Cold Warriors past their use-by date. Put aside any thoughts of Taken – this one is more ‘No Country for Old Spies’.
The Old Man is streaming now at SBS On Demand.
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The Old Man
