Arthur (Bernard Hill, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Titanic) and his wife, Martha (Virginia McKenna, Sliding Doors) have a pretty nice retirement life. They make enough off of his pension to keep them comfortable and even help run the local bingo and bowling club. Unfortunately, a financial crisis sweeping across the country is about to turn their lives upside down.
When Arthur finds out that the company he retired from has folded and the pension he was collecting has dried up, he has to find a new source of income. Through a strange twist of luck, the perfect job falls into his lap, a bank job - and no, not as a teller. It isn't long before Martha realizes that her husband is the criminal mastermind behind the recent bank robbery, and instead of criticizing his efforts, she decides to help him.
What follows is a series of robberies by the duo as they go into banks dressed as old people wearing rubber masks to hide their true identities. When outside and clear of all surveillance, a quick change into their normal clothes turns them into innocent bystanders that most people ignore rather than consider to be suspected criminals.
Of course, the police aren't taking the string of robberies laying down. Seasoned policemen, Sid (Alun Armstrong, New Tricks), pours everything he has into the case, even to the detriment of his marriage to Nancy (Sue Johnston, Walking the Dead, The Royle Family, Coronation Street), a woman who has shared her husband with his job for many years. Unfortunately for Sid, hot-shot cop Stinger (Brad Moore) is working to put the older man out to pasture and takes over the investigation.
When Arthur gets word that the club he and his friends attend is about to be bought out, Arthur and Martha agree that they need a big score and a bigger team. The married couple confess to their friends that they are the notorious bank robbers and get the whole gang involved in a massive heist. These new bank robbers include Royston (Simon Callow, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Amadeus, Outlander), a theater actor; his wife, Shirley (Una Stubbs, Sherlock, Till Death Us Do Part); the club's bartender, Brian (Phil Davis, Alien 3, Mr. Holmes) and Thelma (Ellen Thomas, EastEnders), a recently divorced Jamaican woman who is looking to live life to the fullest.
Golden Years' special features consists of four short featurettes that total about 15 minutes. In these segments, the cast and crew talk about the movie overall, as well as discussions about Director John Miller, the cast, and who they feel the target audience is, the short answer being "everyone," and I have to agree with them on that. Golden Years is a fun caper film that takes what could be either a downer of a drama or too ridiculous to be taken seriously, and instead finds a nice balance that makes it a story that anyone of any age should enjoy, even the younger viewers who might not even realize the problems that can come up when a retired person loses his or her pension. If you are looking for a fun flick that pretty much everyone will enjoy, then check this one out, you won't be sorry.
