Too Old to Die Young

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Too Old to Die Young
Promotional poster
Genre
Created by
Written by
  • Nicolas Winding Refn
  • Ed Brubaker
Directed byNicolas Winding Refn
Starring
ComposerCliff Martinez
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes10 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Nicolas Winding Refn
  • Ed Brubaker
  • Jeffrey Stott
  • Joe Lewis
Producers
Cinematography
Editors
  • Annie Guidice
  • Matthew Newman
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time31-97 minutes
Production companies
  • Space Rocket
  • Picrow
Original release
NetworkAmazon Prime Video
ReleaseJune 14, 2019

Too Old to Die Young is an American crime drama web television miniseries[1] written by Nicolas Winding Refn and Ed Brubaker and starring Miles Teller and Augusto Aguilera. It premiered on Amazon on June 14, 2019.[2] On July 27, 2019. Amazon announced that there are no plans to produce a second season.

Premise

Too Old to Die Young follows "a grieving police officer who, along with the man who shot his partner, finds himself in an underworld filled with working-class hit men, Yakuza soldiers, cartel assassins sent from Mexico, Russian mafia captains and gangs of teenage killers."[3]

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Episodes

No.TitleDirected by [4]Written byOriginal release date [5]
1"Volume 1: The Devil"Nicolas Winding RefnNicolas Winding Refn & Ed BrubakerJune 14, 2019 (2019-06-14)

The partner of a corrupt Los Angeles police man Martin Jones (Miles Teller) is shot dead while taking a selfie. Jones hides the picture from the police and instead shows it to a group of African-American gangsters lead by Damian (Babs Olusanmokun). They identify the murderer as Mexican gangster Jesus Rojas (Augusto Aguilera) whose mother they claim was actually killed by Jones. In exchange for their silence, they pressure Jones into killing a man for them.

Later Jones has dinner with the rich father of his 17-year-old girlfriend. The girl's father seems to approve of the relationship. In private, on the other hand, he acts bizarrely towards Jones. Among other things he imitates a tiger and makes sexual advances towards him.

After more coercion from the gangsters, Jones decides to do what is asked. He tracks his target down to a car shop. After a fight with the man, who is naked, Jones kills him.

At his former partner's memorial service, where the police serve orange juice and pancakes, Jones is promoted to the homicide division.

The gangsters meanwhile capture and beat up the lover of Jones's murdered partner after she apparently tried to sell Jones out to the Mexicans. They offer Jones a gun and the opportunity to deal with her as he wants. We are not shown what he does aside from accepting the gun. Outside Jones messages his girlfriend sweetly.
2"Volume 2: The Lovers"Nicolas Winding RefnNicolas Winding Refn & Ed BrubakerJune 14, 2019 (2019-06-14)

Jesus Rojas, who murdered Martin Jones's partner, escapes to Mexico to wait until Los Angeles calms down. His uncle, the terminally ill Don Ricardo, has brokered peace with the local police force who leave his cartel alone in exchange for briberies. Don Ricardo highly reveres Rojas's mother who he sees in her son. He also sees her in his nurse Yaritza (Cristina Rodlo) who he explains he found out in the desert. On the other hand a mysterious vigilante killing cartel members is making matters tense with the police. Don Ricardo is also worried about whether his son is truly suited to take over the cartel after him.

When Don Ricardo dies, his son beats up Rojas who he has felt jealous of. The son also severely abuses a prostitute before making his father's nurse Yaritza drive her off to be sold. At the exchange, Yaritza instead kills everyone and frees the girl - revealing herself as the mysterious vigilante to the viewer. Rojas and Don Ricardo's son later make peace. Rojas helps him execute several police men. When he is about to kill the local chief of police, the scene cuts similar to how we were not shown what Martin Jones did to the woman who tried to sell him out in the first episode.
3"Volume 3: The Hermit"Nicolas Winding RefnNicolas Winding Refn & Ed BrubakerJune 14, 2019 (2019-06-14)
Diana DeYoung (Jena Malone) is a victim's advocate who moonlights as a healer and appears to have magical powers. She has Viggo Larsen (John Hawkes), a one-eyed former FBI agent who is terminally ill, murder pedophiles she learns about through her law work. One of the murders goes wrong and the dead body is found inside the trunk of a car in a parking lot. Martin Jones, who has just started working homicide, is put on the case. He seems at unease with his middle-aged colleagues who pull practical jokes on each other and openly celebrate fascism. When Jones finally tracks down Larsen, he does not arrest him. Instead he invites him to a diner where they find they have a lot in common.
4"Volume 4: The Tower"Nicolas Winding RefnNicolas Winding Refn & Ed BrubakerJune 14, 2019 (2019-06-14)

Jones and Larsen begin working together to murder pedophiles for Diana DeYoung. After a successful murder, Larsen monologues to Jones about how humans used to have to be animals to survive. As civilization evolved, the animal side stayed beside us. He thinks society is about to collapse due to global warming and rising facism. The instinctual, violent side of humans will come back so it's up to him and Jones to protect the innocence in humanity as much as they can.

Influenced by his mentor, Jones begins to question the killings he is doing for the African-American gangsters. He is asked to kill a Korean man and unsucessfully tries to learn why from his employers. From the man himself, Jones learns he owes the gangsters 8000 dollars. After the Korean manages to get Jones the money, the gangsters agree to let the Korean man go. Jones asks that he is only given the worst possible people to kill from now on. The gangsters suggest two infamous porn directors.
5"Volume 5: The Fool"Nicolas Winding RefnNicolas Winding Refn & Ed BrubakerJune 14, 2019 (2019-06-14)

Jones stalks the porns director. Eventually they stop to drink at a bar where Jones casually gets to know them. They suggest he make a movie with him. As they are about to take off his clothes, Jones shoots everyone in the room dead. He goes through the studio looking for the rest before giving up and getting in his car. The two remaining porn makers get into an electric car to chase him, but have trouble keeping up with him. As dawn breaks, the electric car runs out of power. Jones backs up into them and, while they are dazed, shoots one of them. As he is about to shoot the other, he mentions a girl that's going to die out in the desert. The porn director mistakenly believes Jones is after her.

At gunpoint, the man takes Jones to a pipe in the desert. Jones has him dig out the sand around it where they find a chest. Inside is a shaking, chained girl. The porn director unchains the girl, warning her about Jones in Spanish. Then he draws a knife and lunges at Jones who shoots him dead. As Jones helps the girl out of the chest, she grabs the porn director's knife from the sand and stabs Jones in the side before disappearing into the horizon.
6"Volume 6: The High Priestess"Nicolas Winding RefnNicolas Winding Refn & Ed BrubakerJune 14, 2019 (2019-06-14)
Yaritza and Rojas marry and decide to return to Los Angeles. In preperation they ask to have the leader of the African-American gangsters, Damian, killed. The wrong man is killed instead. Rojas humiliates his subordinate for the failure while Yaritza holds him at gunpoint. Later Yaritza goes to a party arranged by one of Rojas's friends from before Mexico. She ends up playing a guessing game with Janey (Nell Tiger Free), Martin Jones's teenage girlfriend, which Janey loses when she incorrectly guesses that Yaritza killing 23 people was a lie. For winning Yaritza is allowed to slap Janey which she does more than once, even pushing her on the floor and putting her foot on top of her. Back home Yaritza tells Rojas that she is his mother. Rojas seems to accept this and calls her his mom as he crawls in between her legs to perform oral sex.
7"Volume 7: The Magician"Nicolas Winding RefnNicolas Winding Refn & Ed BrubakerJune 14, 2019 (2019-06-14)

Martin Jones has taken a sick leave from work after being stabbed in a previous episode. He spends his free time celebrating his girlfriend's 18th birthday and killing more pedophiles with Viggo Larsen. Because of his wound, Jones and his girlfriend wake up bloody one morning. His girlfriend's eccentric father Theo Carter (William Baldwin) makes more sexual advances towards Jones once they are alone. He ends up inviting Jones to see a movie which appears similar to the TV show itself. Jones seems unimpressed which makes Carter say that Jones wouldn't know art if it punched him in the face. Afterwards Carter starts masturbating while talking about his daughter. Jones hits Carter in the head with his gun and then uses his belt to break his neck. Viggo Larsen helps Jones get rid of the body. On their way back, Jones falls to his knees and throws up. He confesses who Carter was to Larsen and admits he isn't sure why he killed him. Jones says he doesn't want to be a police officer anymore.

Afterwards Larsen and Jones visit the African-American gangsters, presumably to cut ties with them as well. Instead they find everyone dead and their leader Damian's severed hands. Somewhere else Rojas describes to Damian all the ways he is going to torture him. Damian suggests that Rojas instead kill him quickly in exchange for Damian telling him who actually killed his mother. Rojas, hurt and surprised, agrees and Damian tells him about Martin Jones. Yaritza kills Damian while he is laughing hysterically.
8"Volume 8: The Hanged Man"Nicolas Winding RefnNicolas Winding Refn & Ed BrubakerJune 14, 2019 (2019-06-14)

The police perform a bizarre nationalistic play about Jesus to Jones as goodbye. Meanwhile Janey reports her father missing and admits to the police she's been in a relationship with Jones since she was younger than is legal. Meanwhile Jones kills another pedophile with Larsen who is starting to get too sick to continue his work. After Jones has taken him to his bed, Larsen asks Jones to hold him. They hug for a long time.

While Janey and Jones are talking at the beach, Rojas orders Jones to be captured. Janey is immediately killed while Jones is captured. Rojas declares that he will torture Jones for 3 days before he kills him. Yaritza meanwhile is still secretly killing Mexican cartel members. She asks the woman she frees to talk about the High Priestess of Death, which is what she wants to be called. Yaritza and Rojas begin to engage in BDSM sex, Yaritza playing the dominant role. After Jones has been tortured for 3 days, Rojas dresses in only cowboy boots, underwear and jewellery before decapitating Jones.
9"Volume 9: The Empress"Nicolas Winding RefnNicolas Winding Refn & Ed Brubaker & Halley GrossJune 14, 2019 (2019-06-14)

After Jones's death, Diana has a vision and her eyes are replaced by a cloudy sky. She has a ritual performed, involving lemon-flavored soda, which reveals to her Yaritza and clears her eyes. Meanwhile Yaritza and Rojas are roleplaying scenes from when Rojas was growing up with his mother. The two appear to have had an incestual relationship. At a meeting with his subordinates, Rojas orders his men to be as brutal and violent as possible. He says he wants to turn America into "a theme park of pain".

At Viggo Larsen's home, his mother eats his artificial eye while he is sleeping. Later he finds her dead with his artificial eye by her side. He puts it back in its eyehole. Larsen later tells Diana that he needs to take his anger out somewhere. She tells him about a camp of pedophiles, but worries he won't come back if she sends him. While she is waiting for him at a diner, Diana tells her waiter about an older version of the story of the Red Riding Hood. In this story, the wolf rapes Red Riding Hood instead of eating her. The next day Red Riding Hood comes back armed and kills the wolf. Larsen arrives back safely and the two eat apple pie after Diana has rejected an offer of cherry pie.
10"Volume 10: The World"Nicolas Winding RefnNicolas Winding Refn & Halley GrossJune 14, 2019 (2019-06-14)
Diana masturbates while using VR equipment, shaves her legs, calls in sick at work and dances. Finally she sits down and prophecizes that civilization will end and evil prosper until a mutation happens at which point she will declare a new dawn. Yaritza visits a Mexican bar where she drinks with a gangster. She asks the girls to play the song about the High Priestess of Death that's been going around. While the song is played, Yaritza watches the men. When it's over they ask her why she had the song played. Yaritza replies by killing all the men. As the last man begs for mercy, she declares that she will rid the world of evil and kills him.

Production

Development

Nicolas Winding Refn directed every episode of the miniseries.

On February 8, 2017, it was announced that Amazon had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes. The series was slated to be written by Nicolas Winding Refn and Ed Brubaker both of whom were also set to executive produce alongside Jeffrey Stott. Additionally, Refn was expected to direct every episode of the series and Rachel Dik and Alexander H. Gayner were set to serve as producers.[4][6]

Casting

On March 27, 2017, it was announced that Miles Teller had been cast in the series lead role of Martin, a character described as "a police officer entangled in the world of assassins."[3][7][8] On November 21, 2017, the rest of the main cast was announced and included Billy Baldwin, Jena Malone, John Hawkes, Cristina Rodlo, Augusto Aguilera, Nell Tiger Free, Babs Olusanmokun, and Callie Hernandez.[9] On February 7, 2018, it was reported that Hart Bochner had joined the series in a recurring capacity.[10] On August 29, 2018, Refn announced through his official Twitter account that George Payne had been cast in the series.[11]

Filming

On November 27, 2017, principal photography for the series began in Los Angeles, California.[12] Filming for the first episode ended on January 17, 2018.[13] On March 6, 2018, filming for an episode began in Albuquerque, New Mexico and was expected to continue there through March before returning to Los Angeles.[14][15] On August 11, 2018, principal photography for the series ended.[16]

Soundtrack

Cliff Martinez composed the score for the series, his fourth collaboration with Nicolas Winding Refn. Like previous works of Winding Refn, the series also features a variety of electronic music and punk rock by bands like Goldfrapp, The Leather Nun, Frankie Miller and Jimmie Angel. A soundtrack album featuring Martinez's score as well as pre-existing pop music featured in the show was released on June 14, 2019.[17]

Release

Episodes four and five of the series premiered out of competition at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival on May 18.[18] The full series premiered on Prime Video on June 14 of the same year.

Marketing

On February 28, 2018, a series of first look images from the series were released.[19] On May 21, 2018, Refn released the first teaser trailer through his personal Twitter account.[20]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 62% with an average score of 6.55 out of 10 based on 21 reviews. The site's critical consensus is, "Grim and graphic, Too Old to Die Young is stylish, but its languid story does little to justify its violent tendencies – though fans of Refn's may find enjoyment in its neon laden misery."[21] Praise was directed at Refn's signature style and Teller's performance but criticisms were raised regarding the depiction of sexual violence and the treatment of female characters. For Collider, Gregory Ellwood wrote: "It’s dated and tired and Refn should have known better."[22] Conversely, Eric Kohn of IndieWire offered praise of the series, writing: "there’s certainly some potential in Too Old to Die Young, at least for audiences who can appreciate aspects of Refn’s dark style and punkish sensibility."[23] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the episodes 4 out of a possible 5 stars, stating: "Too Old To Die Young is macabre, and nauseating in many ways, but very well made and very watchable."[24]

References

  1. ^ McVey, Ciara (June 25, 2019). "How Jena Malone Helped "Sculpt" Her Character in 'Too Old to Die Young'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  2. ^ Trumbore, Dave (2019-04-03). "First Blood-Soaked Trailer for Nicolas Winding Refn's Series 'Too Old to Die Young' Arrives". Collider. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  3. ^ a b Kit, Borys; Sandberg, Bryn Elise (March 27, 2017). "Miles Teller to Star in Nicolas Winding Refn's Amazon Series 'Too Old to Die Young'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Lang, Brent; Wagmeister, Elizabeth (February 8, 2017). "Amazon Boards TV Crime Series From Nicolas Winding Refn (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  5. ^ "TOO OLD TO DIE YOUNG (AMAZON)". The Futon Critic. May 30, 2019.
  6. ^ Sandberg, Bryn Elise (February 8, 2017). "Nicolas Winding Refn Sets Amazon Crime Series 'Too Old to Die Young'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  7. ^ Petski, Denise (March 27, 2017). "Miles Teller To Star In Nicolas Winding Refn's Amazon Series 'Too Old To Die Young'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  8. ^ Agard, Chancellor (March 27, 2017). "Miles Teller Heads to TV in Amazon's 'Too Old to Die Young'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  9. ^ Petski, Denise (November 21, 2017). "'Too Old To Die Young': Billy Baldwin Cast In Nicolas Winding Refn's Amazon Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  10. ^ Petski, Denise (February 7, 2018). "'Mr. Mercedes' Casts Virginia Kull; Hart Bochner In 'Too Old To Die Young'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  11. ^ Refn, Nicolas Winding [@NicolasWR] (August 29, 2018). "Dear Friends... The legendary George Payne has now joined the show! ! ! @TOTDYTV ❤️👁🔻" (Tweet). Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2018 – via Twitter.
  12. ^ Refn, Nicolas Winding [@NicolasWR] (November 28, 2017). "Dear Friends, Hello from Day One on Too Old To Die Young! ❤️👁🔻" (Tweet). Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2018 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ Too Old To Die Young [@TOTDYTV] (January 17, 2018). "Wrapped up filming on episode 1. Still a long road ahead but it's going to be a blast.📸 #totdytv #nicolasrefn #milesteller #amazonoriginals #2019" (Tweet). Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018 – via Twitter.
  14. ^ Cloutier, Benjamin (March 8, 2018). "The New Mexico Film Office Announces Amazon Studios Television Series "Too Old to Die Young" To Film an Episode in New Mexico" (PDF). New Mexico Film Office. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  15. ^ Jenkins, JD (March 8, 2018). "The New Mexico Film Office announces Amazon Studios Television Series "Too Old to Die Young" to Film an episode in New Mexico". The Grant County Beat. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  16. ^ Refn, Nicolas Winding [@NicolasWR] (August 11, 2018). "Dear Friends... Today is the last day of principal photography on TOO OLD TO DIE YOUNG. I want to thank a wonderful crew for an amazing journey. ❤️👁🔻 @TOTDYTV" (Tweet). Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2018 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ https://filmmusicreporter.com/2019/05/23/soundtrack-album-for-nicolas-winding-refns-amazon-series-too-old-to-die-young-to-be-released/
  18. ^ Pavan, Benoit (May 17, 2019). "Too Old To Die Young, the new laboratory of Nicolas Winding Refn". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  19. ^ Miller, Liz Shannon (February 28, 2018). "'Too Old to Die Young' Exclusive First Look: Nicolas Winding Refn Thinks TV 'Is Dead,' but His Amazon Show Is the Next Step". IndieWire. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  20. ^ Nordine, Michael (May 21, 2018). "'Too Old to Die Young' Sneak Peek: Nicolas Winding Refn Debuts First Footage of His Ultra-Violent Amazon Series". IndieWire. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
  21. ^ "Too Old To Die Young: Season 1 (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
  22. ^ Ellwood, Gregory (May 18, 2019). "'Too Old To Die Young' Review: Nicolas Winding Refn's Series Is Brilliant & Tedious". Collider. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  23. ^ Kohn, Eric (May 17, 2019). "Nicolas Winding Refn Brings Gun-Toting Rapists and an All-Night Car Chase to Cannes With Amazon Series". IndieWire. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  24. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (May 18, 2019). "Too Old to Die Young review - Nicolas Winding Refn's dead-eyed LA nightmare". The Guardian. Retrieved May 19, 2019.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Too_Old_to_Die_Young&oldid=908598464"