80 for Brady

From the trailers, I was expecting this to be a very obnoxious, clunky movie. I'm happily surprised to have been mostly wrong about that.

Yes, it is often melodramatic. Yes, it has a plot as thin as rice paper. Yes, it's directed and edited in a way that looks like a cheap made-for-tv movie.

But I didn't care. Because what handily saves this movie is the chemistry between its four aged-yet-still-talented actresses. They embody their characters distinctly and charmingly, and from the first few scenes I was thoroughly convinced of the authenticity of their friendship.

Their dynamic carries this lighthearted experience and makes it an engaging, and often legitimately hilarious, one.

A fun, feel good movie and we aren't even football fans. All four of the leading ladies bring their special talent to their roles. However, Sally Fields and Rita Marino really shine. There are some amusing guest appearances as well. If you grew up watching these ladies in old movies as I did, it think you will find it especially charming to see that age doesn't have to mean you become boring. And for Rita Marino to be so active and lovely at 92 is an inspiration. I know nothing about football but still found the story to throroughly enjoyable especially when I found out it was based on a true story.

A circle of friends set a lifelong goal of watching the Super Bowl and meeting NFL star Tom Brady. A quartet of elderly best friends decide to live life to the fullest by taking a wild trip to Super Bowl LI to see their hero Tom Brady play.

Based on the true story of 5 friends who are passionate about American football and who get together to watch it... Your town is a little exaggeratedly comical, almost forced, but with some good stretches and fun, some tiring moments, sister, watching my life, however exaggerated... They could have been more realistic with the original idea, with the biography, maybe it would be less fun but probably more exciting or just as exciting... Nice and monotonous...

When you put this movie on you can't expect to be getting some Tarentino style cinematic experience. It's not that and nor does it try to be. The only things that you can really grade it on are whether the jokes are decent and not overly obnoxious and whether there is somewhat of a story to follow.

In these two areas I would say it achieves its goal. It takes advantage of a good cast for these roles. They all feed off of the other quite well. As silly as it may be you start to root for the women to achieve their goal. Sure they stereotype the older female football fan a bit, but it's all in good fun. Not a perfect comparison but has a bit of The Hangover but with older people feel to it. Compared to most comedy films put out these days it at least made me laugh as I was rooting on the women. The ending isn't the greatest, but nor did it need to overextend its stay.

Overall, far more entertaining than I expected. Certainly a win for a free movie on the local public transit train.

80 for Brady is a wholesome comedy where every twist and turn can be spotted miles away but the core four are so entertaining to watch that it never becomes a big issue. It's breezily entertaining in the way the best 3 star movies can be and even if the individual adventures don't go as far as they could, there's still fun to be had watching these four celebrated actresses going through them.

Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field are a delightful group who are endlessly watchable together and just as good when they're on their individual side quests. Everyone gets a nice character arc so all four of them have grown in some way by the end with Sally Field being the best of the bunch thanks to her general likeability and how consistently joyful she is throughout.

Kyle Marvin's direction is competent enough despite it generally looking like a glossy episode of television and the jokes missing a couple of big opportunities. His greatest achievement is making sure the film doesn't stray too far from the preferred 90 minute run time. Like all films inspired by a true story should do, it shows the real people at the start of the credits which is always a nice touch.