Just Getting Started (film)


Just Getting Started is a 2017 American action comedy film directed and written by Ron Shelton, his first feature film since Hollywood Homicide. The film stars Morgan Freeman, Tommy Lee Jones, Rene Russo, Elizabeth Ashley and Glenne Headly. The plot follows an ex-FBI agent who must put aside his personal feud with a former mob lawyer at a retirement home when the mafia comes to kill the pair. It was released in the United States on December 8, 2017, by Broad Green Pictures, was panned by critics and was a box office bomb, grossing just $7 million against its $22 million budget.

Plot summary

Defense lawyer Duke, who once defended the heads of the world's most dangerous criminal organizations, now manages the luxury resort Villa Capri in Palm Springs, California. Leo, a former FBI agent, arrives at the resort and repeatedly beats Duke at every competition. As manager of the resort, Duke is initially threatened by the newcomer's activities with the ladies and competitive nature. Their competition even extends to a rivalry over Suzie, the regional director of the resort chain. During the competitions Duke's life is put in danger multiple times and he realizes that the mafia has found him and is attempting to kill him. Duke and Leo must work together to defeat the mafia and save Duke's life during the Christmas season at Villa Capri.

Cast

On May 14, 2016, it was announced that Broad Green Pictures would co-produce the film under the title Villa Capri with Entertainment One, with direction by Ron Shelton, starring Morgan Freeman and Tommy Lee Jones. On June 9, 2016, it was announced that Rene Russo was cast in a leading role alongside Freeman and Jones. Filming began in New Mexico on August 15, 2016. In September 2017, the film was retitled from Villa Capri to Just Getting Started.

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, Just Getting Started was released on December 8, 2017, alongside the wide expansion of The Disaster Artist, and was projected to gross around $5 million from 2,146 theaters in opening weekend. It ended up debuting to $3.2 million, finishing 10th at the box office. When adjusting for inflation, it was the 21st worst opening of all-time. In its second weekend the film dropped 69% to $978,923, finishing 14th. In its third week the film made $22,092 from 48 theaters, dropping 98%.

Critical response

, the film holds a 4% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 23 reviews with an average rating of 2.35/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A thoroughly unfunny misfire, Just Getting Started manages the incredible feat of wasting more than a century of combined acting experience from its three talented leads." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film holds a weighted average score of 21 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.