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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
26
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews
ColliderJun 1, 2022
Jun 15, 2022
Season 1 Review:
The performances are all impeccable, from the main players to the well-furnished minor ones (Grey in what amounts to a cameo, and when we get a glimpse of Harper’s wife, the great Jessica Harper). But it’s Bridges’ show. When the story leaves him for too long, you itch for his return.
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Jun 15, 2022
Season 1 Review:
The seriousness of the show’s approach to Chase, and Bridges’s excellence in the role, are what set “The Old Man” apart, but it’s also (through Week 4) a well-above-average if unusually pensive and introspective spy thriller. ... The episodes have texture and an unforced urgency. As a bonus there’s John Lithgow, who gives an expertly entertaining performance as Chase’s primary nemesis.
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Sep 17, 2024
Season 2 Review:
The first two episodes of this season end on cliffhangers that maintain commendable suspense, despite some expository scenes that tumble into proverbial valleys compared to action packed and sharply acted road buddy sequences that are The Old Man’s peaks. Nevertheless, the exquisitely shot Middle East landscapes, Shawkat’s steely portrayal of a character in perilous danger, Bridges’ pitilessly pugnacious fight scenes, and his sparky chemistry with Lithgow make The Old Man a must watch, and prove some elder operatives need not be scurried out to pasture.
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ColliderSep 5, 2024
Season 2 Review:
The story does sometimes operate at a stop-and-start pace that mixes long, silent, atmospheric moments with dense plot beats that happen so quickly that they're barely over before you realize you absolutely need a rewatch to fully grasp it. Fortunately, The Old Man is engaging enough that a rewatch is no hardship, and with only five episodes provided for review, the series still has a chance to bring the season to a resounding, heart-pounding close.
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Jun 7, 2022
Season 1 Review:
As a thriller, The Old Man doesn’t always deliver. Its internal logic is fitful and its backstory perfunctory. As a showcase for Bridges and John Lithgow, the rare performer nearly able to match his co-star indelible role for indelible role, The Old Man is far more satisfying, though audiences are going to yearn for more direct interaction between the two note-perfect leads and less of the genre filler that extends three of the four episodes sent to critics to over an hour.
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Sep 9, 2024
Season 2 Review:
The first two episodes work well to show the converging journeys that the characters are taking in Afghanistan, but episodes three and four move too slowly to unfurl this season’s intrigue. .... Things finally move along once the action shifts back to the United States and the fourth main character of season one.
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IndieWireJun 1, 2022
Season 1 Review:
Chunks of plot are bluntly stated in long stretches of dialogue, but Watts does earn our attention with carefully blocked action. ... With his loyal dogs affixed to his side, the FX action-drama expects its audiences to follow suit, lapping up Dan’s final, stubborn, show of force. If that’s fine by you, then sit back and enjoy one more swan song. It won’t be the last of its kind.
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Jun 14, 2022
Season 1 Review:
We get some incredibly high-level action and hand-to-hand fight sequence (the first two episodes are helmed by Jon Watts, who directed the last three “Spider-Man” movies), and the expected strong performances from Bridges, Lithgow, et al., but the pace is sometimes excruciatingly slow, the flashback sequences have a kind of B-movie vibe, and there are simply too many times when these really smart characters do some really dumb things, just to keep the wheels of the plot in motion.
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RogerEbert.comSep 12, 2024
Season 2 Review:
It’s with scenes like these, where the characters in “The Old Man” are stripped bare, that the series truly soars. If anything, season two stumbles quite often when trying to be more than this. The two genres that were expertly balanced in season one don’t intersect as well here.
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The TelegraphSep 28, 2022
Season 1 Review:
Future episodes fill in the backstory, with actors playing the two leads as their younger selves. They also brighten things up a bit, because most of episode one seems to take place in the dark. It is based on a thriller by Thomas Perry and the flashbacks aren’t half as good as the present day stuff, mostly because Bridges elevates the material.
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Jun 14, 2022
Season 1 Review:
Harold’s ambivalence about capturing his old cohort adds pathos to the beautifully shot show’s many imaginative action scenes. ... As exciting as The Old Man generally is in the four episodes provided for review (out of seven total), it’s also too sloppy to be a great political thriller. There are plot twists that create plot holes big enough to pilot a C-5 through.
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Jun 14, 2022
Season 1 Review:
It offers exactly what the poster promises, in two excellent performances from Bridges and Lithgow (plus strong supporting ones from Amy Brenneman, Alia Shawkat, and Gbenga Akinnagbe), and offers a bonus in some gripping close-quarters combat sequences. But the story itself feels like an afterthought, and the energy level tends to droop whenever Bridges is not getting his homicide on.
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The GuardianNov 6, 2024
Season 2 Review:
Now, everyone seems fatally flawed – even Emily – and the body count is so high that the idea of being invested in a character’s survival feels almost quaint. The Old Man is bursting with puzzling alliances and long-buried secrets – but the biggest mystery of all is why we should care about any of it.
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