Robert Redford Thanks Blake Lively and Charms Guests at Last Night’s Premiere for The Old Man & the Gun

Robert Redford Thanks Blake Lively and Charms Guests at Last Night’s Premiere for The Old Man & the Gun

The legend that is Robert Redford had guests swooning at last night’s New York City premiere of his rumored last film ever, The Old Man & the Gun. The movie is based off of the almost too good to be true life story of Forrest Tucker, an outlaw who had a knack of politely robbing banks well into his 80s. Guests made their way into The Paris Theater to witness the not one, two, or even five times Tucker escapes prison—for the record, it was 18 times. Dawn Ostroff and CNE produced the film, narrowing down the thousand of Condé Nast archive clips to one story written by David Grann for The New Yorker. Grann described to the audience how he wooed the escape artist into telling him his extraordinary story: “I wrote to him and he declined to speak, and every three months I would send him a letter when he was in prison and after doing this for about two years, he finally said, ‘Come on down.’ So I went to meet him and he began to tell me his story. . . . He was very gentlemanly. He would ask for a Mounds bar and a Dr. Pepper each day!” It was hard not to fall for the bank robber. A point made by Ostroff: “You’re rooting for the bad guy!”

Alongside Redford is a stellar cast of actors: Sissy Spacek, Casey Affleck, Danny Glover, and Tika Sumpter. It was Spacek who easily matched Redford’s coy charm, playing sassy cowgirl, Jewel—Tucker’s Texan love interest. To see their chemistry bloom on set was a sweet treat all on it’s own. “He was lightning in a bottle!” said Spacek, as she walked the red carpet in tropical printed sandals. Director David Lowery, who worked with “Bob” before (Pete’s Dragon) fell for the story when he heard Redford would be involved, not only as the lead actor, but as a producer. “My first thought was this would make a great classic Robert Redford movie.” His favorite scene was a simple but meaningful one. “When Bob is driving away from a bank robbery and he rolls down the window of the car and just enjoys the breeze,” said Lowery. “That shot for me just represents the entire film.” Especially given the latest buzz that this would be Redford’s last film, questions swirled if this really was true. “Never say never!” offered Redford. One thing is for sure, Redford has made his multigenerational mark with this wit, charm, and style. Who could forget his iconic pink suit in The Great Gatsby (1974) opposite Mia Farrow? Actress Blake Lively tweeted her fangirl homage just two days ago after donning a similarly hued suit. When brought to his attention, Redford, taken aback, gave a surprised, “Thank you!”

After the film, a panel discussion with the cast produced some behind-the-scenes insights and laughs. At one point, Casey Affleck, who played John Hunt, the detective who discovered Tucker’s string of robberies, acknowledged the real-life John Hunt in the audience. Hunt stood up to applause as Affleck asked him, “How’d I do?” to which Hunt responded, “I’m blown away!” There wasn’t an after-party scheduled for the evening but with outlaw antics fresh on guests’ minds, plans to grab late-night dinner and drinks were murmured throughout the theater.

The Old Man & the Gun opens in theaters this Friday, September 28.