Old Man
Disney+ | ★★★★✩

Few action spy thrillers open with the protagonist getting out of bed repeatedly during the night to go to the toilet, but what better way for The Old Man to set out its stall, so to speak. If James Bond ever aged, this’d be his fate, along with taking satin pills with his cocktails and cognitive tests to ensure he remembers Blofeld’s name.

The former secret agent here is of the CIA mould, and nobody screams Americana more than Jeff Bridges.

At nearly 73 he hardly has to act as he wheezes and shuffles about his home, daydreaming of a wife lost to dementia, chatting to a distant daughter. But when he finishes the call and nonchalantly places his mobile phone in the microwave and switches it on, we’re given the first inclination that either he’s destined to follow his wife’s fate, or something more is amiss.

The subtle way that scene is played is indicative of the superb calibre of the writing in the first few episodes; forcing the audience to lean in, showing not telling, letting the story build organically, and when there is dialogue, it’s smart and hits hard.

Kudos to the series show runners Robert Levine and Jonathan E. Steinberg, adapting from Thomas Perry’s book of the same name. Creators of the much-loved Black Sails, there’s enough calibre on display here to inspire me to go check that out after Disney finishes releasing all seven episodes of this series.

Classy writing is backed up by classy direction is backed up a classy supporting cast. John Lithgow and Amy Brenneman represent the tribe as Bridges’ former boss and new love interest respectively, Palestinian actresses Leem Lubany and Hiam Abbass are the formidable younger and older versions of his wife.

Old Man

Jeff Bridges as Dan Chase

But really this is the Jeff Bridges show, and with an audience that’ve literally seen him age across our screens for over half a century, we can feel the weight of the years constraining and threatening to subsume the younger man we glimpse within, particularly when events necessitate that he return. Luckily, a pair of killer dogs more than make up for any physical shortcomings.

There’s an entire genre now of former action stars being forced back into the the fray — I’m looking at you Liam Neeson — but the extended fight scene that dominates the last part of the opening episode here is extraordinary. Bridges’ retirement in shambles after being spotted, his too-aptly named Dan Chase turns the books on those forcing him to go on the run.

This isn’t just an old agent clashing with new agents, it’s experience versus arrogance, grit versus reality. It’s painful to watch, and you wonder if even to film it, perhaps Jeff Bridges is somehow still a young man and just dyeing his beard.

Only the first few episodes have been released in the UK, but I hear rumblings that the later part of the series perhaps doesn’t match up to the promise on display so far.

I guess it must’ve ended well enough as it’s garnered a second season, and I’d certainly recommend checking this out for just the excellent first episode alone. For if it proves anything, it’s that there can still be value in something, regardless of decline.