We May Be Old, But We're Not Dead! - Movies That Celebrate People of a Certain Age

[I review the movies "Thelma," "Our (Almost Completely True) Love Story" and "The Trip."] 

One is about an old lady who is scammed; one is about older folks finding romance; and one is about a married couple trying to kill each other, literally, but an unlikely hero saves the day.  It's a seemingly disparate group of films, but they have one thing in common - Older adults feature prominently and they are not treated as objects of ridicule.  I am so sick of movies that ridicule older people for laughs.  Oh, let's have a foul-mouthed old lady smoke some dope or chase a young man around for sex.  Wouldn't that be a hoot?  NO!  

So I present to you, three films that treat us older folks with the respect we deserve.  And you whippersnappers might learn a thing or two!

Thelma (2024)

When 93-year-old Thelma realizes she has been phone scammed out of $10,000, she gases up her scooter and sets out on a quest to get her money back. 

After a 70+-year career, 94-year-old actress June Squibb finally gets to carry a movie in a starring role.  And what a role it is.

Squibb plays Thelma Post who lives alone in Los Angeles.  She has a close relationship with her grandson, Danny (Fred Hechinger), which is heartwarming, but Danny spends more time looking after Thelma than looking after his own life. Thelma's daughter, Gail (Parker Posey), and her husband, Alan (Clark Gregg), live nearby but most of Thelma's friends have died and Thelma is lonely.  

Danny enjoys time with Thelma and he is teaching her how to use her computer. Good thing because there will come a time when she will need it.

One day, Thelma gets a phone call from "Danny." "Danny" tells Thelma he is in jail and needs her to mail $10,000 to a post office box to get him out.  So Thelma is rattled and mails the money.  Well, people, it's actually not Danny but a fairly prevalent scam aimed at old people. Believe it or not, I actually had one of those calls.  I heard this hoarse older voice say "Grandmaaaa."  I hung up because, one, I already knew about this scam and my oldest grandson was about three at the time!

Anyway, when Thelma discovers she was scammed, she is embarrassed.  And it doesn't help when she hears her daughter talking about putting her in an old folks home, so then Thelma gets mad and decides to take the matter into her own hands.  She enlists the help of her old friend, Ben (Richard Roundtree), who has a two-seater scooter.  Off the two go on Ben's scooter to get Thelma's money back, but first Thelma thinks they need a gun - just in case - so they head to Thelma's friend's house to get a gun.  When Ben asks Thelma if she knows how to use a gun she replies, "How hard is it?  Idiots use them all the time."  Hijinks ensue.

Speaking of old folks homes, I have to add that my son has an odd sense of humor.  He likes to point out those places to me and say, "That looks like a nice place."  Ha-ha.  Over my cold dead body.  

Written and directed by Josh Margolin, this happened to his grandmother in real life, but this film is not just about getting Thelma's money back.  It's also about how we Americans don't give our old people much credit, rather warehousing them so we don't have to worry about them anymore, where in other cultures, the older people get, the more revered they are.  Not here.  And it's also about helicopter parents hindering the adulthood of their children.  We have both ends of life's spectrum here. But most importantly, though, the film is fun, but this is not a film that makes fun of Thelma. She is not a wise-cracking, sex-starved, dope-smoking object of ridicule that we see so often in films featuring old people. This is a film that celebrates life and celebrates a fully formed woman of a certain age as Thelma takes her life into her own hands.

And this film celebrates June Squibb.  She is absolutely marvelous in this film and puts to rest any idea that old people can't still live life to the fullest. It's difficult to believe she is 94. This was Richard Roundtree's last role before his death but at 80 he still looked wonderful. "Shaft" on a scooter! It was also fun to see Malcolm McDowell as a bad guy and one wonders where Parker Posey has been.

As actress Bette Davis famously said, "Old age is no place for sissies."  She is right.  It's not easy but the message is not to give up.  Thelma doesn't give up no matter how hard it is until she gets her money back. And we older folks need to do the same.  Keep living until the end. 

I thoroughly enjoyed spending this time with Thelma and you will too. She is an inspiration.  I may not make it to 94 but it's a goal. 

So congratulations, June, on finally having your own movie.  You were wonderful. 

This was based on a real story so wait for the credits and you will see the real life Thelma. By the way, while I was watching this film, a scammer called me!  I must be on the old lady list.

Rosy the Reviewer says...we may be old but, like Thelma, we are not sissies! Us older folks still have a lot of life to live and wisdom to share.  Now call your Mom! (For rent on Apple+) 

Our (Almost Completely True) Love Story (2021)

Opposites attract...literally.

This is an odd little movie but I have to say it struck a chord. Jennifer Lopez's film "This is Me...Now" is a Gen X true life love story that celebrated the rekindling of her romance with Ben Affleck (though we know how that turned out).  This film is actress Mariette Hartley's version, but a film about finding love for Post War Babies, though Baby Boomers will also be able to relate.

For those of you who remember actress Mariette Hartley, this is her true life story of meeting her husband, Jerry Sroka, late in life.  Now 84, she and Jerry have written and produced this little film highlighting their love story along with commenting on what it's like for aging actors and actresses in Hollywood (Morgan Fairchild, Tess Harper and Bernie Koppel have cameos - remember them)?

And for those of you who don't know who she is, Hartley starred in the films "Ride the High Country" and "Marnie" as well as tons of TV shows and TV movies but is probably most famous these days for her Polaroid camera ads that she did with James Garner. Sroka is less famous, though he starred in "Godspell" and is known for doing "voices ("The Wild Thornberrys").

Hartley and Sroka have been married in real life for almost 40 years and this film written by them and directed by Don Scardino is their (almost completely true) love story about two unlikely people meeting later in life: she a tall, famous, aging actress, he a short, out-of-work, Jewish voice actor. The film touches on the perils of finding love in your 60's, the difficulty being vulnerable.  We get insight into Hartley's life, her issues with her father who killed himself and though Sroka can be annoying with his constant jokes and fake voices, he finally realizes how he has been hiding his insecurities behind those voices.  When the two take the risk to be vulnerable they find love. 

The film also touches on the difficulties of finding work in Hollywood when you are of a certain age. So what do you do in Hollywood when you are past your prime and the offers stop coming?  Why, you write and star in your own movie! And that's what Hartley and Sroka have done. 

Rosy the Reviewer says...this couple and this sweet little love story will grow on you and remind you that love can come at any age and comes in all shapes and sizes. (Amazon Prime)

The Trip (2021)

A married couple head off on a trip to a remote cabin, neither realizing that each is planning on murdering the other.

Lars (Aksel Hennie) is an unhappy soap opera director and his wife, Lisa (Noomie Rapace), is an unsuccessful actress. They are not happy together and bicker constantly. They can't even play a game of Scrabble without getting into a big fight.  However, they decide to get away to a rural cabin owned by Lars' dad (Nils Ole Oftebro), but what they don't know is that they are both planning to murder the other. And what else they don't know is that there are also some bad guys out there who are not only going to mess up their plans but try to mess up their lives.

As Lars goes up behind Lisa to attack her with a hammer, she tasers him, leaving him temporarily immobilized. But then Lars' friend, Viktor (Stig Frode Henriksen), arrives and knocks Lisa out. Viktor has been promised half of Lisa's life insurance policy for helping Lars kill her. But when Lisa wakes up, she offers Viktor more money to kill Lars and a fight ensues.  A gun goes off and the bullet goes up into the ceiling, the ceiling collapses and down fall three men! 

They are Petter (Atle Antonsen), Dave (Christian Rubeck) and Roy (Andre Eriksen), three escaped convicts, who had taken refuge in the deserted cabin not realizing that Lars and Lisa were going to show up. Lots of shocking brutality ensues, some of it reminiscent of "Deliverance," if you know what I mean.  Who knew these Scandinavians could be so violent?  It's almost one of the most violent movies I have ever seen, but it's the kind of violence that is so over the top that it becomes funny. I mean, how many times can you get bashed over the head but keep coming back for more?  I felt like I was in an adult version of "Home Alone."

Though this is a Norwegian film, Rapace is actually Swedish. She was Lisbeth Salander in the original "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo," the Swedish version, which was a great movie.  

And now I am going to rant a bit.

The Swedish version of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" was a perfect example of how unnecessary it is for us Americans to remake a perfectly good film just because it's not in English and viewers have to read subtitles. Ironically, Rapace went on to have a big international acting career anyway and the American version of "Girl" was also a big hit and made Rooney Mara, who played Lisbeth, a big star. But that doesn't always happen.  Often, the original film that inspired the American version is forgotten and replaced by an inferior film and that makes me mad. Rant over.  

Not to be confused with the 1967 movie of the same name, this is a different kind of trip entirely. This is a dark comedy written by Tommy Wirkola, Nick Ball and John Niven and directed by Wirkola, but though you can see a mile away how banding together to fight off the bad guys will make Lisa and Lars rethink their relationship, (because nothing bonds a marriage together more than bad guys trying to kill you both), but there is a big twist at the end that you won't see coming that makes this film fit into my old people theme. Never discount us old folks!

Rosy the Reviewer says..."The Trip" is a trip! (Netflix - in Norwegian with English subtitles)

Thanks for reading!

See you next time!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to like it and share it on Facebook, X, or other sites; email it to your friends and/or follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer 

And next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll over to the right of the synopsis to where it says "Critics Reviews" - Click on that and if I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list (NOTE:  IMDB keeps moving stuff around so if you don't find "Critics Reviews" where I am sending you, look around.  It's worth it)!

What I Watched (and Liked) While on My 2021 Summer Stay-cation: Part 2 - Some Good Movies You Might Not Know About

[I review "Summer of Soul," "Georgetown," "The Last Letter From Your Lover," "Honest Thief," and "Supernova."]

"Summer of Soul...or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised"

A documentary of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival that celebrated African-American music and culture and black pride.

The what?

Who knew that, musically, 1969 wasn't just the year of Woodstock but the year of the Harlem Cultural Festival that also drew hundreds of thousands. Except Woodstock became famous with all kinds of coverage and a feature film and the footage from the "Black Woodstock" languished in a basement for 50 years...until now. Questlove (Ahmir Khalib Thompson) has rescued it and makes his directorial debut with this feature film streaming on Hulu.

After the losses of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and police violence, The Harlem Cultural Festival was a chance to heal and celebrate black music and culture by bringing together some of the most famous black artists to perform in Mount Morris Park. Black Panthers were hired to provide security so that there wasn't a huge police presence.

Forty hours of footage was shot by producer Hal Tulchin but unlike Woodstock, nobody wanted to turn it into a film or show it on TV, so the footage sat dormant in a basement for decades until rescued and made into this wonderful and inspirational film. And after seeing it, one has to wonder why this got no coverage at the time or since. Mmmm, one does.

See a 19-year-old Stevie Wonder come into his own: Sly and the Family Stone kicking the usual proverbial ass; along with Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Fifth Dimension, Hugh Masekela, the stars of gospel and more. A particular moving and controversial segment shows Nina Simone reading a poem by David Nelson that is clearly not flattering to white folks.

She asks the crowd:

“Are you ready, black people? Are you ready to do what is necessary? Are you ready to smash white things, to burn buildings, are you ready? Are you ready to build black things? Black people, are you ready?"

Fred Hampton was killed later that year, and still today, continuing police brutality and deaths of young black men...At the end of the film, I cried, because so little has changed.

But thankfully, the music hasn't changed and is a positive that endures...and this film is a musical extravaganza!

Rosy the Reviewer says...you missed it in 1969 but now you get to be there!

(Now streaming on Hulu)

Georgetown

An ambitious social climber marries a much older but well-connected woman in order to be somebody.

What is it with old ladies who think a handsome, much younger man wants anything to do with them except money?  Don't they know that once they hit 50 they are invisible?  I know, I'm being cynical, but if you have ever seen some of those TV shows about older women being catfished by young men on the Internet, you would be cynical too.

So anyway, that's what this is about and, of course, it's based on a true story, an article "The Worst Marriage in Georgetown."  It's a pretty bad marriage - well, the worst, really - when the husband kills his wife, right?

Ulrich Mott (Christoph Waltz) has arrived in Washington, D.C. from...not sure where.  He has a very mysterious past but so far he has landed a job as an unpaid intern, though at the age of 50, an intern is not how Ulrich sees himself.  The congressman he works for also doesn't see it so he lets him go ("Not a good fit"), but that doesn't stop Ulrich from getting himself invites to "in" parties and attaching himself to the rich and powerful D.C. society.  And it's at just such a party that Ulrich meets Elsa Breht (Vanessa Redgrave), a rich and famous journalist who knows everybody. When they first meet, Elsa is married but Ulrich so charms her, that when her husband dies, they connect again and ultimately get married, he 50 something, she 40 years older.

When the film begins, Ulrich is hosting a dinner party and Elsa's daughter, Amanda (Annette Bening) shows up.  It is clear that Amanda dislikes Ulrich but her mother dismisses her.  After the dinner, Elsa also dismisses Ulrich telling him not to smoke in the house so he goes out for a walk to have a smoke.  When he gets back home, 91-year-old Elsa is dead.  As Keith Morrison says on "Dateline," "Could it be murrrr-der?"

Well, duh.

So in flashback we see how Elsa and Ulrich meet, how he courts her and how she helps open doors for him in D.C. society. She enjoys helping him make a name for himself in D.C.  However, realizing her mother is being woo'd by a gigolo, Amanda tries to intervene but Elsa is one of those old ladies I mentioned earlier.  She thinks she still has it.  She doesn't.  Ah, vanity. But Elsa eventually catches Ulrich in his lies. Turns out our Ulrich not only doesn't like old ladies, he doesn't like girls! 

But for a time, he manages to cast himself as a player, starting The Eminent Persons Group (I mean, who doesn't want to be an "eminent person?) and parlaying his life into that of a kind of diplomat, getting credit for a peace-making mission when in fact he just took credit for what others did.  Ulrich had a knack for being at the right place at the right time and playing whatever cards he could get. Georgetown is a metaphor for social climbing and hanging out in the corridors of power and that is what Ulrich was all about.  He was a genius at sucking up and giving the rich and powerful what they wanted and needed to hear.  

Written by David Auburn (based on Franklin Foer's aforementioned New York Times article) and directed by Waltz, the film captures the wheeling and dealing that goes on behind the scenes in our Capitol, the jockeying for position, the posing, the posers.  It's great to see Waltz, Vanessa Redgrave (who at 84 still looks great, by the way) and Annette Benning chewing that proverbial scenery. I just wish there had been a bit more background on Ulrich. What was his life like before he came to Washington?  What motivated him? Who was he really?

Rosy the Reviewer says...but all-in-all, a satisfying, old-style melodrama brought to life by wonderful performances.

(On DVD and for rent at Amazon Prime)

The Letter from Your Lover

Two parallel love stories 56 years apart.

Ellie Haworth (Felicity Jones) is a journalist who has broken up with her long-time boyfriend. She is tasked to write an article about the recently-deceased editor of her newspaper and while searching the newspaper archives runs across a love letter to someone identified as "J" from "Boot." Intrigued, Ellie is determined to learn who "J" and "Boot" were and what happened to them.

So begins this romantic film starring Felicity Jones and Shailene Woodley.

Flashback to the 1960's, we learn that "J" is married socialite Jennifer Stirling (Woodley) who meets foreign correspondent Anthony O'Hare (Callum Turner) who has arrived on the French Riviera to interview her husband, Laurence (Joe Alwyn). Laurence is called away and Jennifer and Anthony end up spending the summer together. They write little letters to each other signing them "J" and "Boot" but it's all platonic until Jennifer tries to kiss Anthony. He pulls away and rejected, she returns to London. But Anthony contacts her, asking to meet, and thus begins a clandestine love affair and the two decide to run off together. But wouldn't you know, as Jennifer rushes to meet Anthony at the train station she gets in a car crash resulting in amnesia. Yes, it's one of those where the lovers almost get away but one of them doesn't quite make it. I think that storyline started with "An Affair to Remember."

In the meantime, Laurence has found the last letter Anthony wrote Jennifer, the one where he asks her to meet him and he hides the letter. Jennifer desperately tries to regain her memory and finds several letter from "Boot" hidden around the house which in turn leads her to a post office box that Laurence has closed. When Jennifer confronts Laurence, he reveals that he knew about Anthony but that Anthony has died. And that's that. Or is it?

In the present day, Ellie has a sort of relationship with Rory, the newspaper archivist, as they get to know each other while looking for more love letters but she is down on romance because of her recent break-up.

So...will Jennifer and Anthony ever see each other again?  Will Ellie and Rory hook up?

Again, duh.

This is one of those big production, old-fashioned, romantic feature film soap operas that we came to expect from producter Ross Hunter and director Douglas Sirk during the 50's and 60's. Great sets, lavish costumes, exotic locales. Think Lana Turner in "Imitation of Life" or "Portrait in Black." It's all here: lovers thwarted, amnesia, love letters, the lovers trying to reunite but just missing each other - you know, one walks into an elevator while the other walks out, making you go "Noooo!" 

Yes, well-known potboiler tropes but I loved those movies so I loved this film too.  

I have to say that I was rather put off at first by the casting of Shailene Woodley for this, because I think of her as more of a teen action character, not a sophisticated London socialite. She is certainly no Lana Turner.  But she grew on me.  And I always like Felicity Jones. Her charm is her fidgety sweetness.

Written by Nick Payne and Esta Spalding, based on the book by JoJo Moyes and directed by Augustine Frizzell, the film beautifully recreates the mid-60's where we were still wearing hats and gloves.  A side note: Everyone thinks the 60's was all about hippies but that's not true.  I graduated from high school in 1966 and we were still dressing up with hats and gloves to go to church.

Yours truly with her mother, circa 1966.  

It wasn't until the end of the 60's and the early 70's that the hippie ethos really kicked in. 

Yours truly with a friend circa 1971.  I rest my case!

Rosy the Reviewer says.. it doesn't matter that this is predictable and that you know how it will end.  It's an old-fashioned romance and we need a satisfying ending, preferably with some tears attached - mine - and that's what I got. I enjoyed it and if you like romantic dramas, you will too.

(Now streaming on Netflix)

 

Honest Thief

A bank robber (Liam Neeson) falls in love and tries to go straight -- but it ain't workin' out.

I can't resist Liam Neeson movies. His ability to remain stoic in the face of adversity is a thing to behold. I mean who can forget these lines from the first "Taken" movie:

"...what I do have are a very particular set of skills...skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it...But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."

Liam has made an entire career out of movies and lines like that, and this one is no exception, though I hate to say it's not as good. But if you like to see Liam work his way out of a sticky situation in his usual deadpan way, you will enjoy this.

Liam plays Tom Dolan AKA "The In-and-Out-Bandit," so-called because he has been robbing banks for six years. He gets in, he gets out. But now he is in love with Annie (Kate Walsh) and wants to get his past behind him. He wants to turn himself in, do his time and then get on with this life. But not as easy as it sounds. He calls the FBI to make a deal. He will turn himself in and hand over the money for a minimum sentence. However, here's the problem. THEY DON'T BELIEVE HIM! They have heard too many false confessions before. But when two of the cops finally decide to check his story out, they find the money and decide to keep it! So now poor Liam has to STEAL THE MONEY BACK!

Okay, I know. Implausible? Yes. But entertaining. Yes! It's Liam bloody Neeson. He always delivers.

So we have bent cops, car chases and over-the-top dialogue.

"I will never see you again."

"I promise you will."

"Because I am Liam bloody Neeson!"

I made that last line up but you get the drift.

Written by Steve Allrich and Mark Williams and directed by Williams, it's all very B-movie with lots of "Huh?" moments, e.g. I couldn't figure out how a guy could be stabbed in the scrotum with a pair of scissors and just keep going. But, you know, if you can suspend disbelief and all of that, this is fun.

Rosy the Reviewer says...it's kind of a cartoon but, hey, we love cartoons, right? And it's Liam Bloody Neeson!

(Available on Amazon Prime)

Supernova

Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth play a married couple dealing with dementia.

Sam and Tusker are a married couple who have been together for years, but two years before, Tusker was diagnosed with dementia and now he is declining quickly. The two decide to go on a road trip, one last one, to say goodbye to friends and family but more importantly to spend time together.  Just like a supernova - a star running out of fuel and exploding - so is Tusker's life.

So Sam and Tusker rent an RV and head out to travel around England's Lake District to see friends and family but when Sam discovers that Tusker has a suicide drug, that changes everything.

Written and directed by Harry Macqueen, this is a tender, quiet film that explores how dementia affects not just the person dealing with it, but that person's loved ones as well.

There is a quote highlighted in the film: 

"We will not starve from lack of wonders, but lack of wonder."

 And this film does not lack wonder. Tucci and Firth are wonderful in this, creating a completely believable, loving relationship between these two characters, often without saying a word.  This is probably their best work to date.

Rosy the Reviewer says...if you enjoy seeing two consummate actors at the top of their games at work, then this is for you.

(On DVD and available to rent on Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple+ and Vudu)

Thanks for reading!

See you soon!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to click on the share buttons to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn, email it to your friends and LIKE me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer 

And next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll over to the right of the synopsis to where it says "Critic Reviews" - Click on that and if I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list (NOTE:  IMDB keeps moving stuff around so if you don't find "Critics Reviews" where I am sending you, look around.  It's worth it)!