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So-so superfan comedy scores on age representation. Read Common Sense Media's 80 for Brady review, age rating, and parents guide.
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Feb 1, 2023 · 80 for Brady Rated PG-13 for drug use and suggestive references to Rob Gronkowski. Running time: 1 hour 38 minutes. In theaters.
- 98 min
- Amy Nicholson
- A surprisingly funny and heartfelt comedy with less Tom Brady than you'd expect.
- What's Tom Brady's best movie or TV cameo?
- 80 for Brady Stills
- Verdict
By Siddhant Adlakha
Updated: Feb 4, 2023 4:56 am
Posted: Jan 31, 2023 10:27 pm
Despite its trailer hinting at an over-qualified cast selling something slight, 80 for Brady is a surprising (if scattered) romp with a beating heart. It has a deceptively simple conceit: respected actresses Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Rita Moreno, and Lily Tomlin play four aged best friends eager to travel to the 2017 Super Bowl to catch a glimpse of their favorite quarterback, Tom Brady; cue the age-inappropriate shenanigans.
Based somewhat on a true story (which is to say, a group of women in their 80s who gather to watch Brady play each weekend, but without the comedy of road trip errors), 80 for Brady is helmed by first-time feature director Kyle Marvin. His inexperience shows early on, when each joke settles into a rote rhythm as the movie cuts to close-ups for each punchline before immediately cutting back to wider group shots. The effect here is two-fold. First, the constant over-emphasis feels akin to an outdated laugh track, adding the exact same punctuation to every moment, whether or not it needs or deserves it. Second, it robs its leading quartet of the opportunity to sell each joke with their body language and interpersonal dynamics. More focus on the way they interact and play off each other’s energies might have helped things get off to a stronger start,t in a film about friendship, and one that opens with the four lead characters gathering for a 2017 playoff game involving Brady’s team at the time, the New England Patriots, and engaging in superstitions rituals with amusing fervor, while introducing themselves to the audience.
However, these missteps slowly begin to fall by the wayside once its four Bostonian ladies decide to watch the Super Bowl in Houston, no matter what it takes. The adventure yanks them far away from the close quarters of the domestic opening scene, so the movie has little choice but to let its legendary collective of actors dictate the comedic rhythms (it also helps that it was shot by two time Oscar-winning cinematographer John Toll, whose eye for framing characters is on display here). Along the way, the group’s mis-adventures include (among other things) a hot wings contest, an impromptu dance, and a drug-induced trip through a fancy party – all scenarios which become doubly funny when you place older women at their center rather than the traditional frat boy.
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Field plays the flipside to that coin. Her character, retired probability professor Betty, is the youngest of the group (the frequent mentions of their fan club name, “80 for Brady,” are always accompanied by her reminders that she’s only 70) and she’s spent 50 years married to her husband, who is now dependent on her care. She’s seen as the responsible one in the bunch, which Field expertly portrays through both uptight neuroses and quiet acceptance. The group sees Betty as having a picture-perfect life, but perhaps more than the rest of them she’s in need of a new adventure to find parts of herself she left behind.
Tomlin could probably sell the role if her new lease on life depended on eating a really special hot dog. In a just world, she’d join her three co-stars as an Academy Award winner for this movie. The rest of it may not be polished or prestigious enough to land on the Academy’s radar, but Tomlim commands the screen with verve, as a woman wrestling between her fears of death and her desire to have one last big bucket list adventure – which she sells with such a joyful, infectious radiance that she occasionally elevates 80 for Brady into an exuberant experience.
Granted, things often come easy for the women during their hunt for big game tickets — problems that seem dire always have sudden solutions, usually involving celebrity cameos — but where the plot has scant few twists and turns, its story of four women making up for lost time feels fulfilling enough.
While its script is often scattered and convenient, 80 for Brady is also a surprisingly effective movie, in which the “Brady” of it all doesn’t matter nearly as much as the bonds of friendship. Its four legendary actresses embark on the comedy-adventure of a lifetime, proving they’ve still got tricks up their sleeve, as they deliver sentimental per...
- Siddhant Adlakha
I give 80 For Brady 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 12 to 18, plus adults. By Keila V., KIDS FIRST!
Jun 9, 2023 · Read 80 for Brady reviews from parents on Common Sense Media. Become a member to write your own review.
Feb 1, 2023 · Read a review of ‘80 For Brady,‘ a contrived but good-natured comedy starring Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Sally Field -- and newly retired Tom Brady.
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Mar 8, 2023 · Fun fact: “80 for Brady” is based on a real-life club of elderly Brady fans, though “80” takes it in a far-fetched, fictionalized direction with nursing-home breakouts, accidental drug use,...
