Age Rating: 16
Cast:
Miles Teller as Martin Jones
Augusto Aguilera as Jesus Rojas
Cristina Rodlo as Yaritza
Nell Tiger Free as Janey Carter
John Hawkes as Viggo Larsen
Jena Malone as Diana DeYoung
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

I was interested in Too Old to Die Young because it was a mini series from Nicolas Winding Refn, who is one of my favourite directors. Admittedly, it did take me some time to actually get through this series, it took me a number of years to do so in truth. Despite this, I finally finished it, and I am so glad I did.

Too Old to Die Young is not an easy show to get through, for a number of reasons. This 10 episode mini series is basically a 13 hour long movie, with each episode ranging from 30 minutes to the length of a feature film. The second episode is 90 minutes long, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the episode which made a lot of initial viewers quit. It’s not necessarily the length of the episodes that would turn people off, but more when you consider its particular style. A good estimate for whether or not you’ll be on board with this show is whether you liked Nicolas Winding Refn’s other movies (like Only God Forgives), as his style and sensibilities are really amped up here. There are plenty of extended dialogue scenes with long stretches of silence between each line, and lots of long takes and shots of not much happening. If you aren’t invested in the story or wrapped up in the atmosphere, you might find some of these scenes to be tedious. It is also a very dark and weird series, and most of the characters have this uncanny valley and odd behaviour to them. Like I said, Too Old to Die Young dialled up a lot of Refn’s sensibilities, but as someone who loved his movies, I was on board with all of that.

I will admit that at first it was hard for me to get into the show, but it slowly drew me in as I progressed. The story starts out fairly small and straightforward, and by the end of the series, it has gone to places that I wasn’t expecting. It gets weirder and more intriguing as it continues, and is captivating throughout. As much as it might be a turn off for some people, the longer runtime and slow burn really paid off here. Much like Refn’s other work, it is nihilistic, unpleasant, and very much takes place in a brutal world with barely any character to identify with. Despite all that, it is surprisingly funny and even satirical at points, there is some degree of self awareness to it. While the last episode felt like a somewhat unnecessary coda and the show could’ve ended an episode earlier, I’m fine with where they concluded it.

Too Old to Die Young has a great cast of performances. Miles Teller plays the lead role and he had a difficult job, considering that his character Martin Jones is far from a likable protagonist, but the fact that he had to deliver a convincingly restrained, stoic and unemotive performance (akin to Ryan Gosling in Drive and Only God Forgives). And yet, he pulls it off and it actually ends up working, especially with the way that his character progresses. Augusto Aguilera, Babs Olusanmokun, Cristina Rodlo, and Nell Tiger Free are great, and John Hawkes and Jena Malone and Billy Baldwin were the standouts for me.

Nicolas Winding Refn’s direction is on point, and the style is exactly what you’d expect from him. It’s beautiful to watch with stunning visuals, some of the best you’ll see in a show from the past 5 years. There’s a lot of striking imagery, and excellent and deliberate camerawork. Cliff Martinez’s pulsating synth score is stellar as always, and helps to maintain a constant atmosphere throughout. There are also some great uses of other songs, such as one particularly memorable scene with Barry Manilow’s “Mandy”.

Too Old to Die Young is an ambitious, stylish and intriguing crime mini-series, and one of Nicolas Winding Refn’s most unique and interesting projects. I can understand someone hating it, and it’s certainly not for everyone, but I kind of loved it. If you are a fan of Refn’s movies, it is an easy recommendation.