Jeff Bridges has a particular set of skills in FX’s The Old Man trailer
The FX series about an Old Man with a mysterious past and a whole lot of guns premieres this June
Aux News The Old Man
Taking a page from the Bosches, Goliaths, and Takens of the world, FX has announced a new action series aimed squarely at men in their 60s in desperate need of a hero wearing a blazer. This time, it’s Jeff Bridges loading his Glocks for The Old Man, a new show about a former CIA agent with a mysterious past. Based on Thomas Perry’s 2017 novel of the same name, The Old Man follows the aptly named character Dan Chase (Bridges)—oh, how the playful Gods of irony toy with our meaningless little lives.
After a botched assassination against Chase drives him out of hiding, the FBI must chase down Chase. To make matters worse, Chase dragged a civilian played by Amy Brenneman into this mess. Meanwhile, Chase’s former colleague, the assistant director for counterintelligence Harold Pursuer Harold Harper (John Lithgow), knows Chase’s secret and will stop at nothing to catch him. The Old Man is a great title, but how could you not call this thing “The Chasing Of Mr. Chase”?
Aided by the passage of time, Jeff Bridges has become one of our great cinematic old men. As soon as he won that Oscar for Crazy Heart, Bridges went all-in on his weathered droll and ten-gallon hat, with fantastic turns in True Grit and Hell Or High Water. However, the Old Man looks a little junkier than that, like a mix of his more wistful roles as an aging cowboy with the serialized action of Ray Donovan. Frankly, it’s about time Bridges got one of these things.
Developed for television by Jon Steinberg and Robert Levine (Starz’s Black Sails), the series is produced by Jon Watts, who you might know from Spider-Man: No Way Home. Watts will also direct the show’s two-episode premiere.
The Old Man premieres on FX on June 16, with new episodes running weekly through July 21.
[via Variety]
26 Comments
Bridges has entered his Kris Kristofferson era.
Until this moment, I never knew how badly I want him as Whistler to Mahershala Ali’s Blade.
R.E.D. + Shooter
You had me at Jeff Bridges. Completely lost me at Amy Brenneman.
Do the dogs live? Anything else is fine by me, let it happen. But if I’m gonna watch this I demand reassurances, IN WRITING, that the dogs turn out just fine.
The dogs are happy and healthy at the end of the novel.
I saw the first teaser for this a couple years ago; I thought is was another Covid casualty. Regardless, I’m happy to see Jeff Bridges enter the geriatric action hero genre.
Fuck it, I now want to see Arnie playing Sir Terry Pratchett’s Cohen The Barbarian.
Goddamn. Was about to chuckle that away, but that trailer completely won me over. Bridges looks awesome in that and has that very different energy than the traditional old badass they usually go for.
right? i was way more interested than i thought i’d be. the only warning bell is that it seems they’re going to paint him as a sinless patriot, as opposed to the much more interesting conflicted man who did bad things for what he thought were good reasons. either way, worth a look.
PLOT DETAILS BUT NOT RESOLUTIONS FROM THE BOOK INCOMINGIn the book, the backstory is that the character was Army intelligence, and was assigned to deliver a massive bribe to a baddish guy in a foreign land. The attempted delivery goes bad, and the main character’s superiors cut ties and accuse him of stealing the bribe and going AWOL. After some efforts he realizes that basically there’s nobody for him to talk to, so he uses the money to set up the identity under which he lives out the bulk of his life, before current events cause people to start caring about who might have known things about that baddish guy a long time ago.The character is not a sinless patriot – incidentally, everything I’ve read by Thomas Perry is at least really good, much of it is great if you like clever thrillers, and none of the “heroes” are “sinless” – but he is basically a decent sort who got backed into a ridiculous corner. An amusing runner in the novel is that he exasperates the people hunting him (who just want him dead) by repeatedly trying to give them back what’s left of the money (he knows this isn’t what they really care about, he’s just fucking with them).
I like every Thomas Perry book, some more than others – this is one of my faves. Bridges is perfect casting for the part, and I’m glad it got done. There was COVID, then Bridges got lymphoma, and I didn’t know what was happening with the project. I’m looking forward to this.
If Jeff Bridges is doing tv, then this thing is probably something a lot more special than it sounded on paper. Plus the rest of the cast is killer and it’s from the Black Sails people. I’m really looking forward to it too.
I’m really keen for this.Amazing cast.
Aided by the passage of time, Jeff Bridges has become one of our great cinematic old men.I still think of him as that guy who was just too damn young and too damn handsome for the cinema of the 70’s.
I have had a mad crush on him since Starman. He never disappoints.
I’m just glad he’s doing well after the cancer scare.
It’s not a “cancer scare” if you get cancer.
I’m just happy he’s looking so much more healthy and back at work.
Jeff Bridges has always been a supreme actor.Time didn’t make him better, time let the rest of you arrive.From Starman to Tron to K-PAX to The Big Lebowski to the Contender to the last twenty years. Jeff Bridges always deserved your attention.Time just made sure you gave it.
The fact that both he and Jessica Lange survived the DeLaurentis King Kong debacle to have storied careers and Oscars says a lot about both of them as actors.
“Time didn’t make him better, time let the rest of you arrive.”
Oh, fuck yourself you pretentious twat.
“Watts will also directed the show’s two-episode premiere.”Fixed.
Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow and Amy Brenneman? Yeah, I’m all in. Plus, it’s about time Jeff Bridges got one of these and trailer looks great.
Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow? You don’t need a trailer for that, I’ll watch it anyway.
No one does wrinkled charm better than Jeff Bridges. Glad he’s in better health these days.