Dilemmas about Aging and Retirement in the Film ‘Going in Style’

Abstract

This teaching case portrays the routine of Willie, Joe, and Albert, three retired elderly people who lose their pension acquired after many years of work at the Wechsler factory. The company is ending its activities in the United States and the bank of which Joe is a client will be managing its liabilities. Living a modest life, the characters will face problems arising from the new context of the post-retirement period. To solve their problems, they decide to rob a bank. The objective of the case is to discuss the aging process and the dilemmas involving the elderly in the retirement period. As far as the data source is concerned, the case is fictitious, built from the movie Going in style, directed by Zach Braff and starring Morgan Freeman (Willie), Michael Caine (Joe), and Alan Arkin (Albert). The case uses as a didactic resource the description of scenes and subsequent preparation of teaching notes, which allows teachers and undergraduate and graduate students (both lato and stricto sensu) to analyze and critically discuss the dilemmas faced by elderly people in the retirement period. The case can be applied in disciplines such as People Management, Human Resource Management, Work and Society, Diversity in Organizations, and Labor Relations.