We’re finally just hours away from the biggest day in American entertainment. For months, millions of people across the country have raved about it after closely following the careers of their favorite players. They held watch parties every week; they tracked the statistics online; they placed thousands of dollars in bets. And it all comes down to one inescapable, monolithic event in February: the theatrical release of 80 for Brady.
If you thought for a second he might have been talking about the Super Bowl, you just haven’t been paying attention (or, somehow, you made it here without reading the headline). This year, the biggest day in sports is overshadowed by the biggest weekend in movies. jane fonda, Rita Moreno, output fieldY lily tomlin will make their way into theaters this weekend for a much more entertaining performance than whatever Rihanna’s “microphone” will “take” the following Sunday.
The concept of 80 for Brady it’s like one of those unavoidable pop-up ads that has some sort of clickbaity (albeit vaguely meaningless) headline designed to appeal to impressionable Internet users. “Four grannies go to the Super Bowl, what happens next will warm your heart.” Except that, in the case of 80 for Brady, there is no virus that is immediately downloaded to your hard drive for your curiosity. This is the fantasy world where we get everything we were promised, rewarded for having a big enough heart to want four adorable old people to have the time of their lives.
That may sound like a relatively straightforward movie moment, but that’s exactly what 80 for Brady is offering: a dose of simple, lively fun.
80 for Brady opens by introducing us to four best friends, each from their seventies or early eighties. Lou (Tomlin), Trish (Fonda), Maura (Moreno) and Betty (Field) have been gathering at Lou’s house every Sunday during football season to watch their beloved New England Patriots play.
The tradition started as an accident years before, when all the women helped care for Lou after his final round of chemotherapy. A dead remote battery forced them to endure the airfield football game, until they all fell so hard for handsome Tom Brady that they began watching for pleasure and participating in the sport.
The four best friends, who have dubbed their group the “80 for Brady Club,” have played so many games together that they’ve even developed superstitions of their own. Trish has to be standing on a ladder at kickoff; Lou has to spill a bowl of chips; Maura needs to be drinking her tea.
Photos by Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures
Their eccentricities have strengthened their bond over the years, and when the Patriots make it to the 2017 Super Bowl, Lou decides it’s time they took their love of the game to the next level by going in person. while the true group of loyal friends on which the film is based has never made it to the biggest football game, the film gives them a spectacular glimpse into their wildest dream.
This turns out to be more complicated than expected, of course. Tickets to the Super Bowl are not cheap. Each of the women hatches her own plan to try and win the tickets through a local radio contest, but Lou is more motivated to get her hands on them. She buys the tickets herself, letting her friends believe they won the contest. But getting from Massachusetts to Texas for the game is her own challenge. Maura must move out of the retirement home she is staying in after the death of her husband, while Betty must establish clear boundaries with her loving but needy husband.
All of that is just the roller coaster going up to the top, ready to drop into a thrilling ride of twisty fun once the 80 for Brady club gets underway. Although he avoids taking too many risks, 80 for Brady you feel much more dependent than disappointed.
The script has many jokes that come close enough to being raunchy, such as Trish’s penchant for writing smut. Rob Gronkowski fanfiction In a particularly funny moment for Field, Betty urges the other women in the group to call the fanny pack where she keeps Super Bowl tickets her “harness.” She insists that having it slung over her shoulder changes her name, because having a stra-on is more responsible than anything going up her butt.
Photos by Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures
Every actor in 80 for Brady they are freely interpreting a version of themselves. Field’s character is dependent and headstrong; Moreno is an adventurer and a fighter; Fonda is sexy and dominant; and Tomlin is curmudgeonly but sweet. This movie isn’t complicated for these actresses by any stretch of the imagination, but it doesn’t have to be. 80 for Brady feeling like it’s happening just to the left of reality is one of its greatest comforts. There isn’t an ounce of work that needs to be done by your audience; this is real fare to sit back and relax.
However, for a fairly simple movie, there sure is a lot going on in 80 for Brady to fill all of its 98 minutes. Cameos and familiar faces keep the pace of the movie as steady as a fully loaded Jazzy Scooter. Guy Fieri makes a pilgrimage from Flavortown to grace the film with his presence, helping our heroes get from point A to point B in multiple instances, while also providing a hilariously calming presence for Maura when she accidentally stumbles too far over the jelly beans. cannabis at the fancy Fieri’s. Super Bowl party.
There’s also harry hamlin Y billy porterwho play two fictional representatives of their real-life characters, who exist solely to help the 80 for Brady club achieve its ultimate goal: prime seats at the biggest game of the year.
But it is Moreno, Fonda, Tomlin and Field who infuse 80 for Brady with its eternal charm. Each of them is so funny that they make the movie their own must-see sporting event, for those of us who love a movies helping mom even more hearty than any eight-layer Super Bowl party dip. Each actress is so committed, so willing to push the silliest jokes to her fullest potential. These are the true MVPs (Most Vivacious Pensioners).
80 for Brady it’s smart enough to know that no one paying money to see it in a theater is going to take it too seriously. Even her most heartfelt moments are quite short-lived, always coming back on the strength of her main club’s wonderful friendship rather than becoming too whiny or cloying.
Photos by Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures
This makes for some uproariously conspicuous acting attempts from Tom Brady, who tries his best to convey even a hint of emotion from his soulless lizard eyes, while the four main cast members can do it with a split-second look. . As if there weren’t enough reasons to see this movie in a theater, I don’t know if I, or the audience I was with, have laughed more in 2023 than when Brady gives Tomlin an emotional speech at the end of the movie.
Luckily, it’s easy to forget that 80 for Brady it exists as a self-serving vanity project for its incumbent producer. Its exuberant comedy and dedicated performances help the film transcend any wandering narcissism and instead situate it nicely in the pantheon of wacky road trip comedies.
Why the hell anyone would want to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon in February in front of their TV watching a football game, when they could be watching this movie instead is beyond me. Who cares which team wins the Super Bowl? 80 for Brady it is a sure win where no one loses and everyone goes home as champions.
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