This is a nice surprise.
Although director Kyle Marvin’s cheerful romp is the silly little comedy one would expect from its premise and publicity, it’s also a delightful showcase for its Hollywood veterans.
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| Four rabid football fans "of a certain age" — from left, Trish (Jane Fonda), Betty (Sally Field), Lou (Lily Tomlin) and Maura (Rita Moreno) — can't believe they've actually made it to the Super Bowl. |
Add the fact that these events are set against the historic Super Bowl LI, and the result is a “silly comedy” that builds to an exhilarating climax.
The setting is Massachusetts in 2017, where longtime friends Lou (Lily Tomlin), Trish (Jane Fonda), Maura (Rita Moreno) and Betty (Sally Field) gather in front of the TV every game day to don team jerseys and watch their beloved Patriots … and, most particularly, quarterback Tom Brady.
This routine has continued for years, ever since getting involved with football helped Lou defeat a bout with cancer. In a nod to sports voodoo — as with baseball players who never change their socks once a streak is established — these four gals diligently mimic their actions prior to a long-ago upset victory: where they were sitting or standing, and what they were saying and doing, down to spilling a bowl of potato chips at a precise moment.
Lou is the gutsy ringleader, who insists on the replication of all these details. Trish is glam and feisty; Maura is adventurous and tireless. Betty is smart and down-to-earth: the gang’s pragmatic conscience.
Each woman comes with a bit of emotional baggage. Maura hasn’t recovered from the loss of her husband, and — rather than live alone in their home — she has sorta-kinda moved into an assisted living facility, in order to be surrounded by other people.
Trish falls in love too quickly, and repeatedly gets her heart broken; Lou constantly worries that her cancer might recur. The precise and practical Betty, although a whiz with math and stats, can’t figure out what to do with her hapless husband (Bob Balaban, as Mark), whose absent-mindedness has become a trial.
Once the game concludes, on this particular afternoon, Lou impulsively decides that they all should attend the upcoming Super Bowl, at Houston’s NRG Stadium.
But that’s an impossible proposition. They all live (albeit comfortably) on fixed incomes; obtaining tickets is prohibitively expensive, to say nothing of travel and lodging.
Then, suddenly, a ray of hope: Two local radio station co-hosts announces a contest, the winner of which will receive four Super Bowl tickets. But it won’t be a random draw. Each participant is asked to write an essay, explaining why s/he should win; the DJs will award the tickets to the entrant whose story touches them the most.
Even this early, Halpern and Haskins’ script offers droll touches, as Lou and her friends embrace this essay challenge in varying ways. Maura’s ploy is the funniest, as she transforms the residents of the assisted living facility into an essay-writing squadron.
Once the gals arrive in Houston, a few of the subsequent events are wholly predictable. The tickets will get lost; Trish will meet a nice guy who probably won’t break her heart; all manner of other calamities will threaten to screw up their plans; and several of the gals will unintentionally eat cannabis-laden gummies.
(The latter gag is almost as old as this film’s stars but hey; it still works.)
The film’s “fantasy gimmick” belongs to Lou, who frequently imagines that Brady is talking directly to her: through a video monitor, from a life-size cardboard standee. (Brady is quite accomplished at playing himself.)
Many of the subsequent set-pieces are hilarious, most notably Betty’s impulsive decision to enter a hot wing eating contest hosted by Guy Fieri. Maura’s unexpected participation at a high-stakes poker table reveals her secret weapon: She’s a very shrewd gambler, and incredibly lucky.
The quartet’s attempt to pose as backup dancers for the halftime show also is a hoot, with Billy Porter adding considerable pizzazz as a sympathetic choreographer who helps with this mad scheme.
Indeed, the four stars are surrounded by a wealth of engaging supporting players. Alex Moffat and Rob Corddrey are hilarious as the radio co-hosts, Nat and Pat, whose on-air antics get progressively wilder as the story proceeds. Harry Hamlin is suaveness personified as a long-retired football player who catches Trish’s eye, and Sara Gilbert is solid as Lou’s worried daughter.
Glynn Turman makes the most of his performance as Mickey, a good-hearted fellow who’d very much like to become Maura’s “gentleman friend.”
Halpern and Haskins uncork a couple of plot twists — one of them genuinely unexpected — which enhance the third act.
Not everything works; Betty’s attempt to give romantic advice to a hunky young guy falls flatter than a deflated football, and the “lost tickets” crisis resolves rather clumsily. But that’s small stuff, considering the good will Marvin’s gentle 98-minute film builds along the way.
Paramount’s publicity team has gone out of its way to proclaim that this film is “inspired” by actual events, but that’s a stretch. Yes, an “Over 80 for Brady” fan club was established by five women who, after becoming widows, bonded and became rabid Patriots fans. But they never made it to a Super Bowl, never met Brady, and — needless to say — never indulged in any of this film’s over-the-top antics.
That’s okay. When we’re blessed with seasoned scene-stealers like Tomlin, Fonda, Moreno and Field, real-world accuracy scarcely matters; it’s best to simply sit back and enjoy what they do so well.
2 comments:
Loved this review. The only thing that bothered me about this film is that Jane Fonda has had so much plastic surgery and makeup applied that she didn't look anywhere near the age of the other 3. It bothered me every time she came on the screen.
(reading your past reviews late!)
No argument. Actors and actresses really need to stop doing that; the short-term gain can't be worth the long-term result!
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