Going in Style

Yes, the 2017 comedy Going in Style is a direct remake of the 1979 heist comedy film of the same name directed by Martin Brest. The original film starred George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg as the elderly men planning the bank robbery. The 2017 version modernizes the plot, focusing heavily on the loss of pensions and corporate greed, while keeping the core trio dynamic intact.

The three lifelong friends at the center of Going in Style are played by Hollywood legends Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Alan Arkin. Caine plays Joe, whose home is facing foreclosure; Freeman plays Willie, who desperately needs a new kidney; and Arkin plays Albert, a cynical lifelong bachelor. Their massive on-screen chemistry grounds the otherwise absurd heist plot in genuine, heartfelt emotion.

The 2017 version of Going in Style was directed by Zach Braff, best known for starring in the medical comedy series Scrubs and directing Garden State. This film marked a departure for Braff, as it was his first time directing a major studio film with a massive ensemble cast of Academy Award winners. Zach Braff's direction brings a lighthearted, cinematic heist energy to the screen, contrasting the bleakness of the 1979 original.

In Going in Style, the trio decides to rob the very same bank that holds the funds of the corporation that froze their pensions. The bank is explicitly named the Williamsburg Savings Bank, a major financial institution in their Brooklyn neighborhood. They attend a local carnival to use it as a distraction while they execute their carefully choreographed, Queensbridge Boys and Girls Marching Band-accompanied heist.