It seems that maybe the Covid Pandemic has managed to add more victims to its list .i.e. big blockbuster Hollywood comedies Once the mainstay of major studios, this genre seems to have both lost its way as well as its sense of humor. And the worse crime of all, dumbed down, as demonstrated in recent offerings like ‘Ticket To Paradise.“
Sticking mega-watt A-List Stars cannot save a C or D-List movie, however just when we thought Hollywood’s major studios had given up on making really good comedies, they produce this delightful gem of a movie that not only made us laugh out loud and often but its high production values made us feel that maybe all is not completely lost
It didn’t hurt the fact that ‘80 for Brady’s’ four leading ladies, all fab queer icons, know a thing or two about working comedy and come to the project with several Academy Awards, Golden Globes and Emmys etc. under their belts. But much more important than that, from the very first frame you can sense the joie de vivre they share which is so infectious that we cannot help but fall in love with them .
The movie is based on a real story of 4 octogenarian best friends who had made a tradition of watching every Patriots Game on the TV together.
Trish (Jane Fonda) is a hopeless romantic who always falls in love with inappropriate men and fills the gap between her string of suitors by writing erotic fiction. Lou (Lily Tomlin) although the ringleader of the group and comes up with some outrageous plans, is afraid to open the email from the hospital to find out whether her cancer has returned. Betty (Sally Field) who insists that she is not 80 yet, is a retired MIT professor, who loves her very needy husband (Bob Balaban) but her patience is waning. And Maura (Rita Moreno) is still mourning the loss of her late husband and has taken herself off to live in a Seniors Home against the advice of her friends.
When a local radio station promises four Super Bowl tickets to anyone who comes up with the best story, the 4 women decide it’s their chance to take a break from the various complications of their lives and go on a wild adventure to see their beloved Tom Brady in the 2017 Super Bowl.
These actors are superb scene partners, and the ensemble scenes are among the highlights. And each makes the most of her solo moments. Moreno lights up the screen in a high-stakes poker game and her masterfully underplayed negotiation with a scalper. Field is innocently funny and makes an extremely dumb joke about calling a fanny pack “a strap-on” work. .
Review : Roger Walker-Dack
Editor in Chief : Queerguru
Member of G.A.L.E.C.A. (Gay & Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association) and NLGJA The Association of LGBT
Journalists. and The Online Film Critics Society. Ex Contributung Editor The Gay Uk & Contributor Edge Media
Former CEO and Menswear Designer of Roger Dack Ltd in the UK
one of the hardest-working journalists in the business' Michael Goff of Towleroad
Labels: 2022, 80 for Brady, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, review, Rita Moreno, Sally Field, Tom Brady
