Tough Enough

It's always fun to watch great screen teams, and one of the best was Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. Watching these two legends work together was always a cinematic treat. They did eight films together. Their final film teaming, Tough Guys, was a little lighter, but it was a lot of fun.

Lancaster and Douglas are two gangsters being paroled after 30 years for a train hijacking. Their awe struck parole officer, Dana Carvey, informs them that they are not allowed to have contact with one another. Lancaster is sent to a retirement home and reconnects with an old flame, Alexis Smith. Douglas takes a job at an ice cream parlor and hooks up with a much younger woman, Darlanne Fluegel, that he meets at the gym. The two have a hard time fitting in. Lancaster hates the food and the patronizing orderlies at the home. Douglas hates the abuse he has to take from his teenage boss and has a hard time keeping up with his club hopping girlfriend.

The old friends reconnect and decide that they are better off committing to a life of crime. When it's anounced that the train they hijacked 30 years ago is making a final run, they decide to make one last hurrah and hijack it. The cop that arrested them 30 years ago, Charles Durning, their parole officer, and a crazy gunman, Eli Wallach, are in hot pursuit as the two make their blaze of glory.

This isn't a cinematic masterpiece like some of their earlier efforts, but it is a lot of fun. Douglas and Lancaster prove that they still great chemistry. I always like it when legends poke fun at their personas too.

I'm not sure why this one hasn't made it to dvd/blu ray yet. It did pretty well at the box office and the reviews were favorable.

If you want to see a funny flick where two legends prove thay still have it, seek out Tough Guys.