Sony Pictures Classics
I think anytime you have a movie with rare combinations of relationships, it stands out enough that people offer more praise than perhaps the film would deserve. Sometimes a bad film seems passable or an okay one becomes above average. One such combination is that of grandmother and granddaughter. Normally there aren’t many movies that focus on relationships spanning two generations at all; usually it’s a child/parent sort of thing. But there’s a lot of potential to mine there, the way two people share another person in different ways. And if you can add in that the mother is the daughter of the grandmother, even better, because you can show something about changes in generations. All that said, nothing guarantees you’ll have something truly interesting to say.
Grandma is the latest film from writer-director Paul Weitz (previously of Being Flynn and Admission) and it’s a classic indie “adventure in a day” story. Lily Tomlin plays Ellie, an older lady who lost her long-time wife and partner fairly recently. She’s not dealing with it well, cutting up her credit cards in a fit of anti-consumerist pique and behaving quite cruelly to new girlfriend Olivia (Judy Greer). This cruelty quickly leads to a break-up, and it’s no surprise. So far, Ellie’s sort of a curmudgeon and a pain, so how will things change? Ellie’s granddaughter Sage (Julia Gardner) shows up, only sixteen years old, and she has a serious problem. She’s pregnant and needs money to pay for an abortion, because she’s terrified to tell her mother Judy (Marcia Gay Harden).
So the two are off to find some money, which means crossing paths with all sorts of people Ellie’s distanced herself from over the years. There’s a particularly memorable scene with Sam Elliot as old flame Karl where he really gets a great chance to show off some emotional range. With this and his role in this year’s I’ll See You in My Dreams, he’s become a heartthrob for the senior set. The “plot,” as it were, isn’t really the point. It’s about the journey of these two and how we can connect with them as characters. Will they grow and change and become closer or will Sage make the same sorts of mistakes as Ellie? It’s probably not a big question to answer, but that’s the movie.
In general, I found it fairly pleasant, with a few specific scenes that elevated the rest of the movie with more impressive acting moments. That said, it’s not really something I particularly found engrossing. There are some funny lines, but most of the comedy falls flat, despite Lily Tomlin’s best efforts. The dramatic pieces work better, but unfortunately that leads to a lot of dragging scenes too. As for the rest for the acting, everyone’s pretty good. Julia Gardner does well playing off a host of seasoned actors, although her character is probably the least interestingly written.
It’s funny how there are a lot of a similar archetypes I see here pinned to the same actors. Judy Greer has played the same sort of put upon character in a lot of movies, like Ant-Man and Jurassic World, it’s just this time it’s about a lady significant other who’s the jackass, not a guy. Marcia Gay Harden has played a few imposing and scary “put together” characters lately, like in the late, lamented show Trophy Wife or even a short stint on Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom. Lily Tomlin is even playing a similar difficult older lesbian like in Weitz’s earlier film Admission. In that vein, it’s nothing especially new here, but at least you know these actors can pull it off.
As time passes and I think back on this movie, I feel like it was quite pleasant, with some good character moments and interactions. The comedy doesn’t really work at all, so act as though this is merely a drama/coming of age inversion that connects two (almost three) generations of women. If that sounds good, or you already were a fan of Lily Tomlin’s, I bet you’ll like this movie. But if you need serious laughs in your dramedy, this isn’t the movie for you.
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