We’re finally just hours away from the biggest day in American entertainment. For months, millions of people across the country have found themselves excited after closely following the careers of their favorite players. They held watch parties every week; They tracked statistics online; They made thousands of dollars worth of bets. It all comes down to one inevitable, monolithic event in February: the theatrical release. Brady is 80.
If you thought for a second that I might be talking about the Super Bowl, you weren’t paying attention (or, you somehow got here without reading the headline). This year, sports’ biggest day is being eclipsed by cinema’s biggest weekend. Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Sally Field, and Lily Tomlin will be moving into theaters this weekend for a funnier performance than anything Rihanna’s “Mike” “picks up” next Sunday.
The concept of Brady is 80 Like one of those inevitable pop-up ads with some clickbait (yet vaguely nonsensical) headline designed to attract gullible internet users. “Four grandparents go to the Super Bowl, and what happens next will warm your heart.” Except that, in the case Brady is 80, there is no virus that immediately downloads to your hard drive for your curiosity. This is the fantasy world where we get everything we were promised, as four lovable seniors have hearts big enough to spend the rest of their lives.
It may seem like a relatively simple time in the movies, but that’s exactly what it is Brady is 80 Presents: A simple, highly entertaining dose.
Brady is 80 Opens by introducing us to four best friends in their late seventies or early eighties. Lou (Tomlin), Trish (Fonda), Maura (Moreno) and Betty (Field) gather at Lou’s house every Sunday during football season to watch their beloved New England Patriots play.
The tradition began as an accident years ago, when the women all helped to care for Lou after her last round of chemotherapy. A dead remote battery forced them to endure the football game on the landing channel, until they all became so enamored of the swashbuckling Tom Brady that they started watching and getting into the game for fun.
The four best friends, who have dubbed their team the “80 for Brady Club,” have played so many games together that they’ve even developed their own superstitions. Trish must stand on a ladder during the cricket match. Sprinkle a bowl of loo chips; Maura should drink 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 to go personal and take their love of the game to the next level. The real-life group of friends on which the film is based never made it to football’s biggest game, and the film gives them a spectacular reimagining of their wildest dream.
This proves trickier than expected. Super Bowl tickets aren’t cheap. Each woman comes up with her own plan to win the tickets through a local radio contest, but Lou provides extra motivation to get her hands on them. She buys the tickets herself, letting her friends believe they won the contest. But coming from Massachusetts to Texas for the game is its own challenge. Maura has to move out of the retirement home she’s been staying in after her husband’s death, and Betty needs to draw some clear lines with her loving but needy husband.
It’s all just a ride up the rollercoaster that’s about to go down a thrill ride of twisted fun once the 80 for Brady club hits the road. Although it avoids taking too many risks, Brady is 80 Feeling confident rather than disappointed.
The script has plenty of jokes that are close enough to go viral, like Trish’s penchant for writing Rob Gronkowski fan fiction. In one particularly hilarious moment for Field, Betty asks the other women on the team to call the fanny pack she keeps Super Bowl tickets on her “belt.” She insists that wearing it around her shoulder changes its name, because having a “belt” is more responsible than anything going near her fanny.
Photos by Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures
All actors present Brady is 80 Loosely plays its own version. The character in the field is reliable and headstrong; Moreno’s is adventurous and scary; Fonda is sexy and commanding; And Tomlin is worried but sweet. The film isn’t complicated by any stretch of the imagination for these actresses, but it doesn’t have to be. Brady is 80 It feels like it’s happening to the left of reality, which is the ultimate comfort. There isn’t an ounce of work for the audience to do; This is true sit back fare.
However, for a fairly simple film, there sure is a lot going on Brady is 80 To complete its 98 minutes. Cameos and familiar faces keep the pace of the film steady like a fully charged Jazzy Scooter. Guy Fieri makes a pilgrimage to grace the film with his arrival from Flavortown, helping our heroes get from point A to B on several occasions, as well as providing Maura with a comical calm when she accidentally trips hard on Fieri’s lavish weed gum. Super Bowl party.
There’s also Harry Hamlin and Billy Porter, who play two of their real-life fictional proxies who exist solely to help the 80-somethings in the Brady Club reach their ultimate goal: prime seats in the biggest game of the year.
But what fills it is Moreno, Fonda, Tomlin and Field Brady is 80 With its timeless charm. Each is game enough to play, and they make the film a can’t-miss sporting event in its own right—for those of us who’d rather support hearty mom cinema than any eight-story Super Bowl party dip. . Every actress is so dedicated that they try to pull off the silly slapstick jokes to the best of their ability. These are the true MVPs (Most Lively Pensioners).
Brady is 80 Smart enough to know that no one paying to see it in a theater will take it seriously. Even its most sincere moments are very timeless, always falling back on the wonderful camaraderie of its core society instead of being overly weepy or active.
Photos by Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures
This makes for some vociferously standout acting efforts from Tom Brady, who tries his best to convey an ounce of emotion with his soulless lizard eyes, and all four main actors can rock it with split-second looks. As if there weren’t enough reasons to see this movie in a theater, I don’t know that I, or the audience I was with, laughed more than when Brady gave Tomlin an emotional speech in 2023. Movie.
Fortunately, it’s easy to forget Brady is 80 remains a selfish vanity project for its titular producer. Its witty comedy and committed performances help the film overcome any misplaced narcissism and instead settle it neatly into the pantheon of wacky road trip comedies.
Why on earth anyone would want to lazily watch a football game in front of their TV on a Sunday afternoon in February – when they could be watching this movie instead – is beyond me. Which team will win the Super Bowl? Brady is 80 It’s a sure win with no one losing and everyone going home as champions.
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