80 for Brady

I admit, when this movie was being advertised just about two years ago I told myself I had zero interest in seeing it. And I made no effort to see it. Until today when my wife and I were looking for something to stream.

Now I can confidently say "This movie is a lot better than I thought it would be" and that is always a welcome surprise. A bonus is that it was inspired by a true story of four elderly Tom Brady fans going to Superbowl 51 in Houston (where we happen to live for the past 38 years).

The gist of the story is, these four friends call themselves "80 For Brady" because most of them are over 80 and all of them are big Brady fans and Patriots fans. They even have special jerseys they wear when watching games on TV, all with number 12 on them.

It is 2017 and the Superbowl 51 in Houston is coming up. Two local radio jockeys have a contest, the best story from the fans will win four tickets to the game. A few days later one of the ladies produces four tickets and they are off.

Part of the humor here is that not everything goes smoothly. But the four veteran actresses are in fine form and a fantasy conclusion to the game, which required the Patriots to come back from a big deficit, is entertaining. Actual NFL footage from that game is used, and several Patriots players, including Brady and Gronk, are characters in the locker-room after the game. In fact Brady was the producer for the movie.

Good entertainment, inspired by real people and real events, what's not to like?

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.

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.

I was in one of those moods where I wanted to watch something, but I really didn't want to put must effort into what I was watching. I had seen 80 for Brady advertised, I love Sally Field, so I thought I would give it a go. I was not disappointed.

It is about 4 elderly women obsessed with American Football and Brady, who then decide to go to the Super Bowl. (Based loosely on a true story) I am not a huge fan of Jane Fonda) she is tolerable in this story, she always plays the same character in these films.

It was a fun, easy way to spend 90 minutes. There was a few laughs a long the way, it was enjoyable.