The Retirement Plan

'The Retirement Plan' puts Nicolas Cage in a grey wig and a run of loud Hawaiian shirts as Matt, a retired beach bum in the Cayman Islands who rarely seems to put his beer down. Canadian Tim Brown wrote and directed this action comedy, and Cage, younger than the man he plays, has said he liked the idea of playing a grandfather.

Matt's quiet life ends when his granddaughter Sarah turns up at his door. Her mother, Ashley (Ashley Greene), hasn't seen him in years and is in serious trouble: her husband has stolen a hard drive from a crime boss, and she's put Sarah on a plane alone with the drive hidden in her backpack. The crime boss, Donnie (Jackie Earle Haley), soon sends his loyal lieutenant Bobo (Ron Perlman) and a few heavies to the island.

What nobody in the family knows is that Matt spent years as a government assassin, and the old skills are all still there. With help from old colleagues like Joseph (Ernie Hudson), a man who was never much of a father suddenly has a family to protect.

Brown, whose previous film 'Buckley's Chance' starred Bill Nighy, has named Guy Ritchie as his big influence, and it shows in the comic body count. Cage had already worked with Perlman on 'Season of the Witch', and Lynn Whitfield, Joel David Moore, Grace Byers and Rick Fox complete the cast. It was shot in the Cayman Islands in 2021.

Released in 1,175 US cinemas on 15 September 2023, it took around $757,000 in its first weekend, the weakest opening of any Cage wide release. UK viewers got it on digital platforms on 29 September, rated 15. Critics were split: most enjoyed Cage, but the plot and the dialogue didn't get off so lightly.

• Action
• Comedy
• Crime