If I start out by citing the fact that Paul Weitz’s Grandma has a 92 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s because — for a change — the rush to praise is justified. I also want to help keep this remarkable little movie from getting lost in the shuffle of the first actually busy week of the fall — and to keep if from being incorrectly dismissed as “another bit of boomer-bait scoring laughs by having old folks swear.” Oh, there’s a good bit of swearing — courtesy of 75-year-old Lily Tomlin — but it’s not of the cheap-laugh variety. Instead, it is inherent in Tomlin’s character. It is part of her, and the laughs come not from her swearing, but from her tendency to speak her mind in an unfiltered manner — often at inappropriate times. More to the point, her character is more tragic than comedic.
Grandma is fast-paced, unfussy and to the point. It runs a very tight 79 minutes and wastes none of them. It also provides Tomlin with one of the best roles of her career (one that seems to have been written for her). She plays Elle Reid, an out-of-fashion poet, who is still mourning the death of her long-time lover, Violet, a year-and-a-half ago. Dismissed as impossible and crazy by her virtually estranged daughter (Marcia Gay Harden), Elle is alone except for her current, three-plus decades younger girlfriend, Olivia (Judy Greer). When the film opens, Elle is severing that tie, dumping Olivia because she’s certain the relationship is doomed anyway. Relegating Olivia and their four-month relationship to the level of nothing but a footnote, prompts the younger woman to complain, “That’s a horrible thing to say.” “Well, I’m a horrible person,” Elle tells her — and that’s the role she’s cast herself in as a protective shell.
In essence, Elle is through with the world. The world, however, isn’t through with her, something that becomes apparent when her granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner) shows up in need of $600 for an abortion — one that’s scheduled for 5:45 that afternoon. The problem is that Elle has paid off and cut up her credit cards (turning them into wind chimes) and is therefore broke. Immediately understanding why Sage doesn’t want to involve her mother, Elle sets out — in Violet’s very old car — with Sage, to somehow find the money. Starting with Sage’s worthless boyfriend (Nat Wolff) — who makes the mistake of tangling with Elle and the business end of a hockey stick — the pair try everything Elle can think of. This makes up the bulk of the film with a series of encounters with Elle’s old — largely estranged — friends. Some are comic, some are not. All are somehow poignant and all serve to paint an increasingly complex picture of Elle.
The film does follow a fairly obvious pattern. It’s not exactly surprising where all these efforts will end up, but the trip itself is less certain as concerns what it contains and who Elle is underneath the tough-as-nails, no-nonsense persona. Also, the encounters sometimes play against type, especially the one with long-ignored Karl (Sam Elliott). It’s not just what it reveals, but how it’s handled — depicting Elle and Karl smoking pot (which Elle swiped from Sage’s boyfriend) matter of factly, and not for an easy old-folks-getting-high laugh (see I’ll See You in My Dreams for a recent and extreme example of this). It is, in fact, Grandma‘s matter of fact attitude that so sets the film apart. It exists in a world where lesbian relationships are just a fact of life, where a middle-aged businesswoman was raised by two mothers, where old folks might well smoke pot, etc. It’s a film that makes no apologies for its worldview — and is refreshing for it. For that and for Tomlins’ performance, Grandma is a must-see. Rated R for language and some drug use.
the lesbian as moral arbiter : abortion is o.k.–I mean, since lilly tomlin says so and drives a cool old dodge, it must be. we get it. but do we really want it? I don’t. and I have no apologies for saying so. isn’t that refreshing?
Refreshing? No. Predictable? Yes. Do I care? No.
oh, come on. why does tomlin’s character have to be a lesbian? why the approbation for abortion and degradation? I mean, really? these are legitimate questions, for you and for the combine that actually gets money together to produce and market this b.s. its propaganda, Hanke. the car is pretty to see, but its not the creation of the predators here pretending to be artists (that dodge royal is a work of art and engineering accomplished by persons that if still alive are very glad to have been able to actually create something of beautiful and useful and truly liberating levity). here, its just another prop falsely appropriated by the psychotic homo-agenda crowd so as to be a hook to snare the kiddies and their deluded parents into drinking the poison.
oh, come on. why does tomlin’s character have to be a lesbian? why the approbation for abortion and degradation?
these are not legitimate questions. They are intended to inspire a heated exchange. I can’t even believe you buy any of what you say. “The homo agenda? ” Honestly. You are kidding, right? You are a progressive just having fun . No one with a heart or a clear brain would say something that absurd.
why aren’t the questions legitimate?
they are psychotic. they are homosexual. and they do have an agenda. these are facts beyond argument. whether or no and why you agree or disagree is something else entirely.
Its just another prop falsely appropriated by the psychotic homo-agenda crowd so as to be a hook to snare the kiddies and their deluded parents into drinking the poison.
Mr. x, I really have nothing to say to you, and I assure you have nothing to say to me. I would greatly appreciate it if you would take your poisonous agenda elsewhere. For that matter, since you are talking about a movie you haven’t seen, you are talking out your ass.
talking about your review of the movie, Hanke. leaving a comment about same. what’s the problem? why the high dudgeon?
No, you are not talking about my review. You are merely trolling with your far right, anti-gay, hate-filled political agenda. That’s all you are doing. It is all you have been doing — playing the Big Righteous Right Winger while, of course, hiding under the hood of a screen name. (And don’t give me that secret ballot nonsense. This isn’t voting and if you can’t put your real name to your views, they aren’t worth much.) Further ravings will be deleted. There are places that, I’m sure, welcome you calling gay people “psychotic.” This is not one of them.
Who let the troll out of his cage? At least see the movie first. Wait, sorry, Mr. x would not see this movie because of his various hatreds. Too bad, he might learn something and then be able to discuss the movie.
Chester Berne
“Ignorant always loud in arguments.” — Charlie Chan.
I’m glad you deleted further comments, but I’m also glad you left the ones that are there up. I love when “pro-lifers” accidentally make the opposite point they intend to make: That all lives matter…
And I’m still deleting him. Nothing persists like hate, I guess, and he is certainly persistent.
nothing accidental here, pal. not even your misreading of my comments.
No one is misreading your comments. And you are nobody’s pal. You are a troll. Plain and simple. Do you believe this reactionary nonsense you insist on spewing? I neither know, nor care. But as long as you insist on posting anti-gay slurs, bible verses, presuming that you and your religious views are the only acceptable ones, then you’re going to be deleted.
Dino
3 days ago
I’m glad you deleted further comments, but I’m also glad you left the ones that are there up. I love when “pro-lifers” accidentally make the opposite point they intend to make: That all lives matter…
Reply
I love when progressives make the opposite point they intend to make: that all speech is protected…
I love it when right-wingers can’t grasp the point — in other words most of the time.
I deeply apologize to anyone who was subjected to the Dead Perspective of this person’s further McCarthy-esque ravings about the “homo-agenda,” but I can’t be here all the time.
What never ceases to amuse me is that people like this only manage to create more interest in the movie they’re whining about. Just look at the number of views on this title and those of the rest of the week’s listings. Why? Because the most commented on titles always draw the lion’s share of the attention. In essence, mickey the x is promoting Grandma. Maybe that’s why in Asheville the film’s box office was $1000+ over the national average this weekend…
Do you get those box figures from a website? I can’t find anything online that is so specific.
I get them from one of the theaters on Monday.
and so Hanke continues on with the “progressive” agenda…a.k.a. the labotomisation of the american psyche. its very important that people behave–correctly.
..or else!
Your obsession with getting to Ken is not working. He is above the fray in these matters. You are just coming off as unbalanced.
And sadly desperate.
A remedial course in a spelling and about 10 years of psychiatric treatment would do you a world of good, Mr. x.
I apologize to Ms. Sefton for deleting her last post, but since it was incomprehensible once I deleted the mickster’s last bout of frothing at the mouth, it seemed only practical.
I wonder what the color of the sky is on Mr.x’s world?
same as yours. but I actually see it.
A very dark shade of delusional.
Aside: Persons wishing to misuse the word “lobotomy” could at least bother to learn how to spell it.
you’re running a rigged game, Hanke. that’s not kind or fair. it’s mean and crooked.
You are just being an obnoxious ass. I suspect you know that, though I may be giving you too much credit.
another insult. like I said, Hanke. its your circus: run it your way. but it says to leave a comment so…
SAYS HANKE:
Ken Hanke
2 days ago
No one is misreading your comments. And you are nobody’s pal. You are a troll. Plain and simple. Do you believe this reactionary nonsense you insist on spewing? I neither know, nor care. But as long as you insist on posting anti-gay slurs, bible verses, presuming that you and your religious views are the only acceptable ones, then you’re going to be deleted.
Reply
END HANKE COMMENT
says I in reply: tell me one religion in the world that promotes homosexuality, Hanke. you can’t, because there isn’t one. there’s a good reason for that, too. which you already know but have chosen to ignore–with relish–in your cultivated contempt for humanity (which cultivation you may have confused with the legitimate art of being “cultivated”). but I’m full of hate, right? sure, Hanke. you are confusing outrage with hate; but outrage is–quite rightly, and healthily– directed at things that are hateful: its the instinct to not only survive, Hanke, but to thrive. life thrives upon a female-male dynamic, not upon an aberrant tangent from the wholeness of Creation. yes, Hanke. homosexuality is a reality. yes, Hanke. sexual activity is a reality. sexuality as sexuality unto itsself for the sake of itsself–any way you want to run it–is nothing new or revolutionary. and certainly has nothing to do with any real civil rights aspirant to be securing and maintaining of individual liberty. zero, and less than zero—way below sea-level, lower than whale-shit, actually. but we the people are spewed upon in the public spaces of media by a continual sewer-pipe of homo-agenda poison aimed at children and young adults. why is that, Hanke? progress? do you really believe the mere open fact of homosexuality and the mocking absurdity of “gay-marriage” is political progress? do you really think that movies such as G-ma promoting a casualistic reality of sexual abberancy and mortal immorality is progress? your words:
” It (the movie G-ma) exists in a world where lesbian relationships are just a fact of life, where a middle-aged businesswoman was raised by two mothers, where old folks might well smoke pot, etc. It’s a film that makes no apologies for its worldview — and is refreshing for it.”
and I’m full of hate? outraged is the word, Hanke. and better off for being so, and well for having so said.
I’m letting this through. Why? So everyone can see what you are — if they haven’t already. (Also, I never blocked this tirade — you got yourself trapped in the profanity filter. Ha ha.)
Now, let me spell some things out for you —
1,) If you are so prone to following instructions — like commenting because the site has a space for it — will you just go away if I tell you to? After all, you’re the one who says it’s my “circus,” so if you had any courtesy in you, you would. If I came into your home and ranted about things with which you disagreed, would you be playing a “rigged game” by telling me to leave?
2.) You hate homosexuality. If you object to that, let’s say you consider it an abomination — or strenuously object to it. You have made this clear. You accomplish nothing by repeating it, except that it seems to feed your ego to keep objecting to it. Well, I for one am tired of it. Or let’s say I am over it. It should be obvious to you that I am not alone in this.
3.) You hold the same views about abortion. Your position has been noted. Now shut the hell up. We’ve heard it.
4.) In the first place, you are talking through your ass about no religion tolerating homosexuality, Even if you weren’t — and this may come as a shock to you — not everyone feels the need for religion or an imaginary friend in the sky.
5.) For someone who pisses and moans about “we the people” (good of you to decide who “the people” are) being “spewed upon in public spaces of media,” you seem to be unaware that you are doing one buttload of shit-spewing all on your own. You rail about this “sewer-pipe of homo-agenda poison aimed at children and young adults,” but you do the very same thing with your reactionary dogma. Of course, in your bitter, narrow mind you are convinced that you are the one who’s right and everyone who doesn’t buy into your views is wrong. Hey, that’s a two-way supermarket aisle, if you get my drift.
6.) You are full of outrage? Well, guess what? So am I. I am outraged by your presumption that the rest of us have to listen to you over and over again while you play the persecuted martyr card.
You have had your say. Now, please stop.
Mickey x, I am not sure what you want from anyone. Do you want us all to say “thank you for your thoughtful, sentient comments?” Because most of us are appalled by your sad commentary. It reveals a deeply angry, unbalanced person. I am pretty sure you never watched the movie because it is not a movie that promotes anything except the power of family, especially in the hardest of times. It is about connection and if you want to twist it into something ugly then that is a reflection on you.
We are weary of your rants and your abusive language. We are even wearier of the venom that seems to find its way onto this sad little thread. Your black and white world is so very narrow.
Peace.
Mr. x, it’s obvious you enjoy using the Bible to justify your hatred of gay people, but what about some of the other rules in the Bible:
Exodus 21:7
“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go free as male slaves do.”
If you have any daughters, I really feel sorry for them.
Exodus 35:2
“On six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be sacred to you as the sabbath of complete rest to the LORD. Anyone who does work on that day shall be put to death.”
A lot of people are going to have to put to death for working on the Sabbath!
Leviticus 11
And the pig, which does indeed have hoofs and is cloven-footed, but does not chew the cud and is therefore unclean for you.
Their flesh you shall not eat, and their dead bodies you shall not touch; they are unclean for you.”
Football anyone? And how about a hot dog to go with that?
Any religion can be used for love or hate, it’s a shame you use it for your blind hatred.
Since Mr. x has no sense of basic manners and is incapable of being reasoned with — and is only here to (illiterately) continue his one note rants on the evils of homosexuality and abortion — we return him now to a state of being deleted. This will doubtless be followed by claims of how unfair I am and that he is being cyber lynched. I really don’t care.
He talks about love and God. Has he even read the Old Testament?
I see no evidence he’s read anything else but the old testament.
I see no evidence that he has seen the movie that started all this.
He stated as much in that “I don’t watch such things and don’t even actually know what I’m objecting to” manner.
miss sefton: I understand your intent, but this is a movie review site. there is a comment space in which to leave comments–upon the review of the movie. I am sure there is probably somewhere in the ether a site for this movie that allows for comments on the movie proper. no, I haven’t seen the movie. I don’t care to be emotionally shag-hai’ed and dragooned into the ongoing cult of perv-as-norm. I could write the script for this thing and cast its few ancillary characters not shown just by looking at one of the pics hanke has provided with his review. which pics hanke has obtained from the services of some agency whose business it is to promote this film because they have been paid to do so for reasons that to me are rather obvious…and very sad.
A movie review site. A discussion board for people who have seen the movie, or those who want to discuss some aspect of films. Not a political forum. Or an old testament forum. Or a place to discuss conspiracy theories.
If you read enough of Mr. Hanke’s reviews, you will know that he isn’t paid to promote anything. He writes his opinions, and some of them are sharply critical of the film he has been assigned to review. Even some with gay characters.
I’m sorry, but I’m about to do something I have never done before. You can blame the self-righteous troll for this.
Has anyone except Hanke seen this movie? All I see above are comments about the plot, but not about the movie as a whole! I will go see it and see how it goes.
Since it’s been playing for nearly a month, then we may safely conclude that a lot of other people have seen it — and recommended it to others. (A critic may have an impact on a film’s opening weekend. After that, it’s word of mouth that has to carry it.) My guess is that any real discussion of the movie got steamrolled by that certain party.
and you are that certain party?
No, that was “mickey x” who seems to have defeated the process of being blocked by posting from a library — and who wants to turn this into an endless repetition of his disapproval of lesbians and abortions. And this is why I am closing this thread.
With trolls like him, discussion is rendered impossible. But then I suspect you know that, since you and “mickey x” are posting from the same IP address.
Just saw this tonight at the Cary Theater, and thanks for recommending it – very worth seeing. Witty, smart dialog, and Lily Tomlin was alternatively frightfully and delightfully direct. Somehow it handled a variety of potentially touchy subjects with aplomb, and put it all together in a quasi-traditional road movie for good measure.
The theater was supposed to be showing “The Lady in the Van” but the day before lost the right to show it (since it’s still playing first-run locally elsewhere), and switched to “Grandma”. Of the dozen or so people in attendance, some had expected the more traditional “Lady”, but bought a ticket to “Grandma” anyway. The audience was of various ages, from young to old, and I was worried there would be some disgusted walk-outs because of language and the abortion subject. But to the audience’s credit (or the film’s), everyone stayed, and there was a lot of genuine laughter during the showing.
What a pleasure to see someone actually post something about the movie! Thank you!