If you are looking for a way to spend a fun, carefree afternoon and walk around with a smile on your face, I highly recommend treating yourself to watching the new movie “80 for Brady”. It was delightfully entertaining and had the entire audience laughing at some of the craziness. It was Senior Discount Day and the theater was teeming with old people, but I do think that 40 or 50 year olds might get a kick out of it, too.
I have wanted to see the film since I first learned about it. How can you go wrong with four legendary actresses with loads of talent? Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin are two of my favorites. Their portrayal of “Grace and Frankie” on Netflix is priceless. Add Rita Moreno, the original Anita in West Side Story, and everyone’s favorite Gidget, Sally Field, to round out the “80 for Brady” stars.
To be honest, I was expecting a lot of silly and cheesy. And, yes, parts of it were silly and cheesy but these four remarkably talented icons of stage and screen pulled it off with flying colors. Throw in some great football players and a fun storyline to round out the box office success it has had. The film opened last Friday and was the second highest grossing movie of the weekend earning 14 million dollars! You go, girls!
I don’t want to give away too much of the plot so everyone can enjoy it. But “80 for Brady” follows four 80-something women friends who journeyed to Texas for Super Bowl LI because they loved quarterback Tom Brady and the Patriots. The movie is loosely based on a true story. The real life “Over 80 for Brady Club” was five widows named Elaine, Betty, Anita, Pat and Claire - best friends for years united in their love for the Patriots. The screenplay altered the number of friends and gave each of them different backstories to develop throughout the movie.
Somewhat surprisingly, the characters all came to life on the screen and did a great job of uplifting the audience making us all feel like we were traveling along with them through the twists and turns of the story line. Literally everyone left the theater smiling and feeling pretty good about aging after joining these stars of Hollywood in their adventures.
I watched a couple of talk shows with all four of these legends promoting their film together. Sally Field kept pointing out that she was only 76, not 80-something. And Rita Moreno coyly stated, “That’s true. We are not all in our 80s.” She is 91. Lily Tomlin is 83 and Jane Fonda is 85. On one of the talk shows they started discussing all their previous surgeries and Jane Fonda spoke up saying, “I have only one joint of my own left.” As everyone laughed, Sally Field announced, “And she’s going to smoke it tonight!”
This is one of the best feel good "chick flicks" I've seen in quite awhile. If anyone local wants to see it, I'll happily go with you, again. "80 for Brady" makes it cool to be an old lady and embraces the fact that life doesn't end at 70 or 80. Often times, the later years are the best years of our lives. Do yourselves a favor and head to the theater to watch this delightful movie!
