Despite the cast being more important than the game, 80 for Brady pales in comparison to more recent work by any four stars, although it’s still harmless enough.
PLOT: A group of eighty-year-old women (Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sally Field and Rita Moreno) win tickets to the Super Bowl to see their favorite quarterback, Tom Brady, in action.
REVIEW: One has to give all the gals involved in 80 for Brady credit. Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Sally Field have all had great success in recent years. Rita Moreno, who is ninety-one, looks at least fifteen years younger than her counterparts, is an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony (Emmy), Oscar, Tony, and Tony winner. Sally Field, the youngest member of the group, was recently in West Story10 on Netflix. The 80 for Brady is a poor choice. It’s not a great comedy, but Rita Moreno, at ninety-one, looks fifteen years younger than me. Sally Field, the youngest of the group, was recently in a wonderful indie called 10Hello My Name is Doris. Instead, 80 for Brady is like one of those embarrassing late-era comedies Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon were stuck making in the nineties (think
Out to Sea rather than the pretty good Grumpy Old Men).All four play to type, with Lily Tomlin having the closest thing to an affecting arc as a cancer survivor who, during her recovery, got into watching football with her long-time best friends. The good looks of Tom Brady attracted all four women (notice: Brady also produced the film). They are all in a crisis. Fonda plays a serial dater who is unlucky with love, Field is a professor’s wife who feels invisible, Tomlin worries about her cancer returning, Moreno misses her husband, and Tomlin worries about Field.It could have been a funny slice of life. But the film falters once the ladies arrive in Houston and get into a lot of “wacky” situations. Some episodes are embarrassing. Guy Fieri plays an extended role as himself and is impressed by the women when Field wins a hot wing eating competition. The episode ends with the painful scene where all four women become stoned and start hallucinating at a party that they have been invited to. Billy Porter and Patton Oswalt also show up as themselves. Harry Hamlin plays Fonda, a handsome former football player. Although it’s harmless, it’s far below the capabilities of any of the other four. Let’s not forget that they’re all responsible for some of the best movies ever made, and while this was probably meant as a minor entry for the four, you can’t help but expect something more substantial from the stars of Klute, 9 to 5, Norma Rae
and
West Side Story.In the end, 80 for Brady is likely passable enough entertainment for the audience it was geared towards, but it’s unlikely to appeal much beyond their base. There are many classics available to watch if you want to see the best of any of them. However, all four are still doing better work than ever before. 80 for Brady is disposable, and maybe a decent rainy day watch for die-hard fans of the four (or Tom Brady), but not much else.5
