There are a lot of bad comedies about, and supposedly for, seniors. It’s especially depressing because the worst offenders, those who not only feel cheap and lazy, but are also exploited, often include our best actors. They can take on the feel of an unintentional horror movie – and not the fun kind.
“Thelma,” starring June Squibb, is not one of them.
In her first leading role in the film, she plays a ninety-something who gets scammed out of $10,000 and goes on a mission to get it back. Revenge stories aren’t often (or ever really) described as sweet, but that’s the magic of “Thelma,” writer-director Josh Margolin’s feature debut in theaters this week. It’s charming, genuinely funny, and a breeze to watch.
Perhaps on a fundamental level it works so well because Margolin wrote it with his own grandmother (also named Thelma) in mind. While there’s something inherently silly and wacky about the idea of a grandmother on a “Mission: Impossible”-style journey, “Thelma” transcends its on-paper limitations and becomes something completely unexpected. A bit like its main character. This isn’t just an old person’s idea in a high-profile joke. It’s specific and at least somewhat realistic. The scooter she and the late Richard Roundtree (as her boyfriend Ben) ride may be slower than Tom Cruise on foot, but the energy is high and infectious.
Squibb is absolutely wonderful at the center of the film, with impeccable comedic timing and complete command of her character. Thelma lives alone at the age of 93. She lost her husband a few years earlier. Many of her friends are already gone. But she doesn’t see herself in an assisted living situation yet, or even wearing a life monitor in case she falls. “If I fall, I’m toast,” she deadpans. “That’s why I don’t fall.”
And she’s doing quite well. Her loving twenty-year-old grandson, Daniel (Fred Hechinger from the first season of ‘The White Lotus’), often visits to help with the computer and just hang out. When he’s gone, she fills her days with all her chores: sorting pills, doing her stationary bike exercises, watching YouTube videos, trying to comment, trying to correct typos, and accidentally posting blurry photos of nothing to her Instagram stories .
Until she receives a panicked phone call from someone claiming to be her grandson. He’s been in an accident, he says, and she has to send $10,000 cash to bail him out. By the time the family starts answering the phone, the money is in the mail and the police say there’s nothing more they can do. Her family, including Daniel’s mother Gail (Parker Posey) and father (Clark Gregg), basically wash their hands of it. But Thelma only has time and she wants to do something about it.
Margolin’s film was made independently. The film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and was picked up for a theatrical release. But he had his team make it look and feel commercial with a fun, ’60s-inspired score by Nick Chuba.
Things really come to life when Roundtree (great, in his final role) enters the picture as her reluctant accomplice on their journey from the west side of Los Angeles to Van Nuys, in the San Fernando Valley. She doesn’t drive and needs his refurbished scooter that he’s talking about, but he’s not about to let her drive it alone.
They have a great rapport – an inspired combination. The Posey/Gregg/Hechinger trio isn’t too shabby either, spitting out comedic quips that make them instantly believable as a family. One standout sequence involves one of those dreaded Waze-directed left turns in Los Angeles across a busy four-lane thoroughfare.
But this is ultimately Squibb’s show and she delivers, as she always does. She should have taken charge of the photos this whole time and finally done something about it.
“Thelma,” a Magnolia Pictures release that opens in theaters Friday, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for “strong language.” Running time: 97 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.
