Taking a page from the Bosches, Goliaths, and Takens of the world, FX has announced a new action series aimed squarely at men in their 60s in desperate need of a hero wearing a blazer. This time, it’s Jeff Bridges loading his Glocks for The Old Man, a new show about a former CIA agent with a mysterious past. Based on Thomas Perry’s 2017 novel of the same name, The Old Man follows the aptly named character Dan Chase (Bridges)—oh, how the playful Gods of irony toy with our meaningless little lives.
After a botched assassination against Chase drives him out of hiding, the FBI must chase down Chase. To make matters worse, Chase dragged a civilian played by Amy Brenneman into this mess. Meanwhile, Chase’s former colleague, the assistant director for counterintelligence Harold Pursuer Harold Harper (John Lithgow), knows Chase’s secret and will stop at nothing to catch him. The Old Man is a great title, but how could you not call this thing “The Chasing Of Mr. Chase”?
Aided by the passage of time, Jeff Bridges has become one of our great cinematic old men. As soon as he won that Oscar for Crazy Heart, Bridges went all-in on his weathered droll and ten-gallon hat, with fantastic turns in True Grit and Hell Or High Water. However, the Old Man looks a little junkier than that, like a mix of his more wistful roles as an aging cowboy with the serialized action of Ray Donovan. Frankly, it’s about time Bridges got one of these things.
Developed for television by Jon Steinberg and Robert Levine (Starz’s Black Sails), the series is produced by Jon Watts, who you might know from Spider-Man: No Way Home. Watts will also direct the show’s two-episode premiere.
The Old Man premieres on FX on June 16, with new episodes running weekly through July 21.
[via Variety]