Thelma

"Thelma" gives June Squibb and the late Richard Roundtree the chance to deliver a couple of fun performances in the rare movie that prominently features elderly characters without patronizing them.

The central relationship in the movie is between a young man and his grandmother, but I saw a lot of my mom in the character of Thelma. She's 81 and in pretty good shape, the usual wear and tear issues of aging aside. She has mobility issues and has said that it would be tempting to sit on the couch all day and watch T. V., but she forces herself to stay active and independent. As a result, she's doing pretty well, and I know that if she had the choice between getting out and about and running the risk of getting injured or overdoing it vs. Wasting slowly away from a sedentary lifestyle, she'd say bring on the risk. I don't blame her, as I think I'll feel the same way.

"Thelma" nails what it's like to be children trying to care for an elderly parent. You want to let them be independent, but you also know that anything that happens to them as a result is going to fall on you to handle, so you do things for them instead and caution them against trying to do too much themselves. But then you're taking away the very thing that is helping them stay sharp and healthy, even though you mean well. It's a crappy position to be in, and it's no wonder that studies show people in their 40s have the least life contentment of any other decade.

On the other hand, I could not relate at all to the helicopter parenting of the characters played by Parker Posey and Clark Gregg in this movie, as that isn't how I parent at all.

Grade: A-

This is the kind of movie that was popular in the 90's. A feel-good comedy clocking in at an hour and a half. No big action scenes, no CGI, no superheroes, no T&A, and ABSOLUTELY NO POLITICS. Pretty much the bane of modern audiences, but that's just fine because modern audiences have no taste.

The movie follows Thelma, a 93 year old woman who is conned out of some money. When she won't let it go, her family starts to worry about her living on her own, but her grandson has her back. She sets out to get what's hers, but instead of shooting a bunch of stupid action scenes with old people doing wirework pretending to do kung-fu, it keeps everything within the realities of what a 93 year old can do. The scenes presented as action scenes are done so for comedic effect. June Squibb and Richard Rountree (RIP) were great, Fred Hechinger reminds me sooo much of Joaquin Phoenix (which is a good thing), and Clark Gregg/Parker Posey are always good. I'm struggling to find anything negative to say, really. Maybe a little more Malcolm McDowell?

It's a quick, fun movie with some creativity, and it handles the challenges that the elderly face in a modern world very tastefully.

Movies with people at advanced ages as characters are all the rage. At the rate they are being produced and released, the Academy may soon create a new category of Academy Awards - for Best Actor/Actress over 85. If such a thing were to happen next year, then one of the nominations (at least) would belong to June Squibb, who at 93 plays a woman who is exactly her age, in the sparkling and tender comedy 'Thelma' (2024) written and directed by Josh Margolin. June Squibb is a phenomenon. She has about a hundred films and TV series in her filmography, but she was over 60 years old when she debuted on the big screens. But once started, she didn't stop. She featured in 'About Schmidt' (she's the wife who dies in the opening scene) and received an Oscar nomination for a supporting role in 2013. She's been on screen in several movies or TV shows every year for the past decade. For writer-director Josh Margolin, this is his feature film debut, but, to use a cliché, I'll mention that it doesn't show. With the role of Thelma, June Squibb comes close the awards zone, even if the Academy does not establish that new and imaginary category.

Widowed for two years, Thelma is 93 years old, still strong and lucid enough to live alone. At least she thinks so. She is helped by her grandson, the adorable Daniel, who at 24 has not found his way in life, but is kind enough to visit often his grandmother and to introduce her to the secrets of computers and the Internet. When the somewhat naive old woman falls victim to an Internet fraud sending ten thousand dollars to the address of some crooks for a supposed bail for Daniel, neither the family nor the police can do much to help her get her money back. Then Thelma decides to act alone. Not that she critically needs the money, but a matter of principles. Her only help - reluctant too - comes Ben, an old friend from the same generation, who has chosen to become a resident in a nursing home and is very happy with life there. Will the two aged persons, using an electric scooter in the urban jungle of the Los Angeles area, manage to find the criminals, recover the losses and do justice? What is certain is that their disappearance puts the family, nursing home staff and the police on alert. Everyone is looking for the two, who are looking for the crooks.

Getting older is not a very nice thing. Physical and mental limitations appear, the world around is changing in terms of technology and mentalities, and not necessarily for the better, loved ones and friends have disappeared, or if they still exist, they are also suffering from the ravages of old age. Josh Margolin's script is sometimes naive and simplistic, in the style of television sitcom series, but it has the great quality of getting it right in what concerns the old age, dealing with it with understanding and empathy. I also have in care a soon-to-be 96-year-old mother, and I can testify that I recognized many experiences and situations in what I saw in 'Thelma'. June Squibb does not act, she rather lives her age on the screen, and therefore her role is truthful and also loaded with humor. Richard Roundtree, her partner in the film plays the role of Ben, who would be the same age as Thelma, but in reality he was 13 years younger. He died in October 2023 and this was his last feature film. Malcolm McDowell is probably the best-known actor in the cast, and he's 14 years younger than June Squibb. Her Thelma dominates the film, not only because of the character but also because of the quality of her performance. The narration is cursive - even if the events on the screen do not quite fit into the calculation of the hours of a day - and the humor is natural and constantly present. 'Thelma' is good summer entertainment that proves that even the experiences of older ages can be made into funny, sensitive and good taste comedies.

When did the late great Richard Roundtree becomes the cat who's the sex machine for all the old White chicks? He played Jane Fonda's love interest in Moving On now he's June Squibb's partner in this "Crime Thriller" This new trend to make movies starring older actresses lost one of their best romantic leads in 2023.

This movie needed an action star to justify it and it got that in Shaft. It also had a decent character villain in Malcom McDowell, which justifies my perception of it. I mean it has the prefect action premise: "They stole her money now she has to get it back!" It's funny how because the cast was old as dirt it made a lot of things, they were doing far more suspenseful: walking upstairs, riding a moped, falling. I do feel like you got to be the right age to feel the danger and be able to laugh at it. If I was 30 to 40 years older I possible think this was a horror flick.

So yeah, it was a delightful film about what grandma means to everyone when they get old enough to need to worry about them more than usually. A bit grim if you are coming to that age when you are a burden to one's family. Also, a touching love letter for a filmmaker who obviously loved his own grandmother.

The emotional thrill ride was intense even though most of the cast can't move that fast but it definitely makes you want to call your grandma after it's over.

Watched this at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

"Thelma" isn't perfect but as a whole, it is a fun and entertaining movie about the lives of elderly people, issues of scam calls and family with fun energy, good direction and a wonderful performance from June Squibb. Director Josh Margolin does a pretty good job on blending comedic and dramatic elements together into the narrative with good humor, fun characters and interesting dynamics between the characters. Squibb's character was highly entertaining to observe and while the other characters were okay, I found each of the characters to have some decent chemistry and energy together.

The production is solid, the camerawork is okay, and the dialogue is pretty good, while some moments could be better. Margolin has a lot of fun references to Tom Cruise's Mission Impossible and he was able to add the jokes and references well into the narrative and action that is occurring in the movie. Although I did found the ending to be slightly anticlimactic and a little unrealistic, as a whole, the heart in the movie is strong and Margolin clearly put a lot of passionate into this project.

Fun movie to watch with friends and it really is sweet.