Grandma

Lily Tomlin has been one of our best comedic actresses for the past 50 years, and she’s at the height of her powers in the beautifully observed dramedy Grandma. Her performance is funny, acerbic, touching — and ultimately, exhilarating.

Weitz knows his muse. But he’s smartly made room for Tomlin to explore her own wisdom, to look into a mirror (literal and figurative) of an older woman’s past and present with remorse, tears and, best of all, delighted laughter at discovering something new in herself. At 75, Tomlin remains the coolest.

Sam Elliott, Marcia Gay Harden, and Judy Greer supply sharp cameos, but this is Tomlin’s movie, and she obliges with a spiky, refreshingly unvarnished performance.

It’s predictable in many places and acerbic in others, sentimental when you expect it and poignant when you don’t. But it stars Lily Tomlin, and that’s all you really need to know.

Weitz's film moves from clunky domestic dramedy to genuine feminist odyssey.

The film unquestionably dices with slightness. But you don’t leave the cinema feeling that something was missing, and Tomlin, who appears in every scene, constructs a persuasive and highly watchable character.

Writer-director Paul Weitz's proudly boisterous star vehicle for Lily Tomlin has about as many ambitions as it does delusions.

i scrolled for something to watch and this happily just fell out of the sky. i love a strong, interesting female character (scarlett o'hara, becky sharp) and lily tomlin's elle was that. tomlin carried the movie on her talented shoulders. some of my favorites - julia garner, judy greer, marcia gay harden - also were excellent.

It was OK but not exceptional. Lily Tomlin gives an uneven and sometimes engaging performance and mixes a lot of elderly rage that is both amusing and uncomfortable watching. The emotions and storyline don't ring as authentic too many times. Gimmicky at times -- an old woman physically assaulting a young punk or a child punching an old woman. Vanity casting where Tomlin's lesbian lover is in her late twenties and she is around 70 which isn't very believable given her extremely unpleasant demeanor and wilting bitterness without any readily evident redeeming qualities. I realize that Tomlin is an icon and we are required as is tradition to take every opportunity to heap praise on her before she goes, but this movie could have been much better.

It’s not difficult to see why some have dubbed ‘Grandma’ as the “feminist” ‘Nebraska’, both are charming and quirky Indie comedy/dramas that bridge the perspectives of different generations within dysfunctional families, and both star straight-talking elderly screen legends. But whereas ‘Grandma’ lacks some of the Oscar-nominated artistic flair of Alexander Payne’s ‘Nebraska’, it certainly doesn’t hesitate to flesh out a distinctly “pro-choice” narrative that although relatively rare, is becoming increasingly common. Lily Tomlin stars as a cantankerous ageing lesbian academic with a colourful but dramatic past which has left her estranged from her daughter and incapable of sustaining relationships since the death of her life partner. ‘Grandma’ sits somewhere between a road movie and a family drama and director Paul Weitz does a good job of balancing the comedy that comes from “Grandma’s” way of handling people and the pathos from the decisions that have shaped her life and the people around her. And that’s what ‘Grandma’ is ultimately about, yes it’s a “dramedy” from a lesbian perspective, but really it’s a film about the choices in life. From the “pro-choice” stance taken regarding the central abortion theme that drives the narrative, and which some audiences may take issue with. To the decisions that Tomlin’s character unapologetically takes which shape more than just her own existence, for better or worse. But despite a distinct 21st century story featuring a gay main character and central driving theme of abortion, ‘Grandma’ is both a familiar tale and character, which we’ve seen tackled from a variety of angles. We’re all familiar with the elderly scrooge-like character that goes on a journey which leads to self-discovery and redemption. Despite Lily Tomlin’s strong central performance, the rest of the cast don’t quite manage to reach her heights, with the main grandma-granddaughter relationship lacking in chemistry, all within a narrative that’s too familiar and which predictably wraps things up in a bow. The Bottom Line… ‘Grandma’ features a distinguished Lily Tomlin central performance within a funny and occasionally touching 21st Century story, but a rather familiar narrative and predictable characters, plus a lack of nuance make this an entertaining little “dramedy” rather than a modern Indie gem.

The trailer made me groan but then those glowing reviews! GRANDMA is like an annoying person you don't want to be around. But worst of all is just how utterly contrived and typical it is. OK, it's better than the really crappy trailer, and thank god it's only 75 minutes long. Even Tomlin is nothing special. In fact, she's actually better in the truly dreadful FRANKIE & GRACE. So she may be on a roll but a roll down Niagara Falls is still the end of your life. Yikes. You can skip GRANDMA. Really no reason to see it. Small thing, please let me age like Sam Elliott.

This movie knocked modern feminism down a peg or two, which is a real shame. A humble budget should be no excuse for poor writing, directing, and acting. Apart from their financial irresponsibility, grandmother and granddaughter appeared to be united only by their shared hatred of the middle generation, which was relayed to us via energy-drink-guzzling, pink-blazer-wearing caricature. The lesbianism was overplayed, the grumpiness was boring, and the use of a well-known transsexual actress in the cartoonish role of broke debtor was downright offensive, as she happens to be well overqualified for this cast, script, and story. The one male character was simultaneously sleazy, good with money, and anti-abortion, which is a lazy combination of characteristics for a movie that appears to be desperately seeking some higher purpose. Even without these major flaws, the film would still be nearly unwatchable, thanks to the sloppy acting. I’m sorry, and Tomlin may be legendary, but she still needs to pause between thoughts and change her tone of voice to match her sentences. I agree with Stephen Holding: this was indeed a career-capping performance.