ReelBob: ’80 for Brady’ ★★½
By Bob Bloom
I am supposed to view movies objectively. And for the most part I do.
But sometimes I approach movies with expectations — either high or low. The factors for that vary. It can be an actor or director who has had a string of releases that failed to impress. Or it’s a genre that I don’t relish as much as others.
All this reflection leads me to “80 for Brady.” I went into this comedy not expecting much. Yes, it stars a quartet of powerhouse women — two-time Academy Award-winners Jane Fonda and Sally Field, EGOT recipient Rita Moreno and comedy legend Lily Tomlin.
But I wondered if the script would ill-use these treasures — making them the punchlines of jokes about geriatrics and senior-citizen sex.
I admit I was surprised. The movie was charming, appealing, funny and, yes, formulaic.
And while the women’s characters were more types than fully developed protagonists, the appeal and talents of Fonda, Tomlin, Moreno and Field carried the day.
The four women — Fonda’s Trish, Tomlin’s Lou, Field’s Betty and Moreno’s Maura — gather every Sunday during football season to watch the New England Patriots and root for their favorite player — quarterback Tom Brady.
They have been doing this for nearly 17 years and have set rituals, which include sitting in specific places and spilling snacks — don’t ask me why. Probably many of you have your own superstitious quirks to help root on your favorite team.
The story, set during the 2016-17 season, centers on the women trying to win tickets to the Super Bowl to see Brady and their Patriots play the Atlanta Falcons.
Being a comedy, the film contains various outrageous situations and far-fetched developments that challenge the quartet’s efforts to enter the stadium without tickets and watch the game.
The women are such good actors that they overcome their character’ thin parameters. They are simplistically defined: Trish is an incurable romantic, falling in love with every man she meets. She also writes erotic fiction about Patriots’ tight end Rob Gronkowski. Lou is a bit of a kook; a cancer survivor who is afraid to open a letter from her doctors after a recent checkup. Betty is a professor, a math genius who also is the caretaker for her insecure and absent-minded professor husband (a wasted Bob Balaban). Maura, a widow, lives in the past, still mourning her late husband.
The Super Bowl featured in the film centers on the famous comeback by New England after they were losing by 25 points in the third quarter.
“80 for Brady” is as much a promotional film for the NFL and Brady (who costars as himself and is one of the movie’s producers) as it is a showcase for its Fab Four stars.
The movie is predictable. It also is amusing, charming, a bit naughty and fun. It’s a feature in which you can simply sit back, relax and go with the flow. Fonda, Tomlin, Field and Moreno share an MVP for transforming a sitcom-like feature that could have been thrown for a loss into a touchdown.
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.
80 FOR BRADY
2½ stars out of 4
(PG-13), language, suggestive references, drug content