Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

TV: The Old Man on Disney+ is like Jason Bourne meeting On Golden Pond

© SYSTEMJeff Bridges in The Old Man (2022).
Jeff Bridges in The Old Man (2022).

A cranky old codger is forced to come out of retirement, except this isn’t any ordinary pensioner: he’s a crack spy.

How easy it must have been to sell The Old Man to TV executives with a hook like that.

Surely they were imagining an action comedy where a gnarled former secret agent in comfortable trousers takes a break from watching Cash In The Attic to judo a henchman off a roof?

Instead they got something very different.

Jeff Bridges is the Old Man in question, a former CIA killer in hiding with his sick wife who is prompted to return to the old ways when he’s targeted by ex-boss John Lithgow.

There aren’t many laughs here at all, in fact. Instead this unfolds with the patience and contemplativeness of a Cormac McCarthy novel: in long scenes, the camera fixes on Bridges and Lithgow as they deliver thoughtful observations of lives filled with loss, regret and trying to leave behind something of worth.

All the while, the Old Man flees across a cold America and strangles assassins. It’s a bit like if On Golden Pond had a philosophical Jason Bourne as its main character.

As well as fine performances by Lithgow and Bridges, Alia Shawkat is excellent here too.

The Old Man is a series that is prepared to spend time meditating on its characters. You should too.

The Old Man Disney+