At the same time as my screening for 80 for Brady was a special preview of Magic Mike's Last Dance. Two very distinct crowds milled outside the cinema with one thing in common: teenage excitement over seeing the twinkling eyes and all-American good looks of a chiselled white man.
The film was inspired by the true story of a group of octogenarian best friends who decided to grab life by the footballs and take a trip to Super Bowl LI in 2017 in the name of all that is Tom Brady.
Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno and Sally Field play Lou, Trish, Maura and Betty, respectively, four best friends and avid Brady fans. Their journey to TB12 begins on one fateful afternoon in 2001, when Lou's remote isn't working and they can't change the channel off the Patriots game. When Brady hustles out onto the field replacing Drew Bledsoe, the ladies are entranced with those piercing blue eyes and their love affair begins.
As each woman confronts aging in their own way, they all agree that a wild, blow-out trip to the Super Bowl to cheer on their main man is just what the doctor ordered. From here, 80 for Brady uses all the tropes we've come to expect from a road trip movie with the group's age as a slight twist on the classics. Tickets go missing, drugs are accidentally taken and Guy Fieri shows up — because what's a trip to the Super Bowl without a stop in Flavortown?
There's nothing particularly ground breaking or unique about 80 for Brady (the biggest surprise to me was that Brady actually attempts to act in the movie — steely, dramatic looks and everything), but it's a delightful endeavour nonetheless. Tomlin, Fonda, Moreno and Field are certified Hollywood icons and deliver each joke and emotional beat effortlessly. Tomlin and Fonda unsurprisingly have a particularly warm chemistry, undoubtedly due to their decades-long friendship that began on 9 to 5.
I've often begrudged the film industry for getting far too serious in the last few years. Every genre is being "elevated" and even the most innocuous films have some sort of social commentary running through them. With that in mind, 80 for Brady is a welcome return to the sweet, corny fun that many of us watched growing up.
And for those wondering what the former Montreal Expos great is planning on doing now that he's officially retired again, at minimum, 80 for Brady sets him up as a Hollywood producer. But I wouldn't be mad at his inevitable return to SNL and the ensuing satirical comedy produced by Adam McKay.
(Paramount Pictures)The film was inspired by the true story of a group of octogenarian best friends who decided to grab life by the footballs and take a trip to Super Bowl LI in 2017 in the name of all that is Tom Brady.
Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno and Sally Field play Lou, Trish, Maura and Betty, respectively, four best friends and avid Brady fans. Their journey to TB12 begins on one fateful afternoon in 2001, when Lou's remote isn't working and they can't change the channel off the Patriots game. When Brady hustles out onto the field replacing Drew Bledsoe, the ladies are entranced with those piercing blue eyes and their love affair begins.
As each woman confronts aging in their own way, they all agree that a wild, blow-out trip to the Super Bowl to cheer on their main man is just what the doctor ordered. From here, 80 for Brady uses all the tropes we've come to expect from a road trip movie with the group's age as a slight twist on the classics. Tickets go missing, drugs are accidentally taken and Guy Fieri shows up — because what's a trip to the Super Bowl without a stop in Flavortown?
There's nothing particularly ground breaking or unique about 80 for Brady (the biggest surprise to me was that Brady actually attempts to act in the movie — steely, dramatic looks and everything), but it's a delightful endeavour nonetheless. Tomlin, Fonda, Moreno and Field are certified Hollywood icons and deliver each joke and emotional beat effortlessly. Tomlin and Fonda unsurprisingly have a particularly warm chemistry, undoubtedly due to their decades-long friendship that began on 9 to 5.
I've often begrudged the film industry for getting far too serious in the last few years. Every genre is being "elevated" and even the most innocuous films have some sort of social commentary running through them. With that in mind, 80 for Brady is a welcome return to the sweet, corny fun that many of us watched growing up.
And for those wondering what the former Montreal Expos great is planning on doing now that he's officially retired again, at minimum, 80 for Brady sets him up as a Hollywood producer. But I wouldn't be mad at his inevitable return to SNL and the ensuing satirical comedy produced by Adam McKay.
