My Old Ass

If you want to see great acting that’s unadorned, not fancy, and very much in the style of 2024, see Plaza in the climactic scene from “My Old Ass.” You will walk out of this film different than when you walked in, and a little bit better for the experience.

Canadian filmmaker Megan Park’s comedy is a touching charmer about growing up, and about that gradual, heartbreaking realization that everything has a last time. If all this sounds a little gooey, let’s remember that this movie features Aubrey Plaza, a wonderfully sardonic performer apparently incapable of goo.

Smart, and sharp enough to balance the sweetness of its simple yet profound message. All we have is time, and this film reminds us, movingly, that it matters how we spend it.

My Old Ass is a slender film, but it’s so nicely judged and so infused with a generosity of spirit toward all its characters, across the generations, that its sentimentality acquires substance.

Park creates a genuine tenderness that Stella beautifully captures, but the narrative itself paints a habitual tale of retrospect and the enlightenment of being in the present.

Director-writer Megan Park has crafted a wistful coming-of-age tale using this comedic device for “My Old Ass” and the results are uneven even though she nails the landing.

When it comes to taking this premise in interesting directions, however, Ms. Park proves inept.

#TheShortHandCritic: Care to go on a Grade-A Nostalgia Trip? #MyOldAss contemplates what it would be like for your older self to appear one day right in the middle of presumably your best youthful days. In the case of Elliott (played by #MaisyStella), this is the final summer ever spent at their families lakehouse. In the hands of most, this script would have sank into the comedic realm of stupidity faster than a rock tossed into water. What we have here is a sensitive and bittersweet darling of a film with timely relevance that is so truthfully directed by #MeganPark. There’s such care in the development and poignancy in its approach. It’s clear that Park has a real connection to the heartwrenching measures the passage of time can have on us—or at least those strong enough to be in tune with it. Nothing will prepare you for the absolutely beautiful performance given by Stella. She’s a revelation worthy of Oscar consideration as she goes through all the stages **** performance with wisdom well beyond her brief years in the business. #AubreyPlaza plays her older self—and while the films only gnawing flaw is that we see so little of her—Plaza still lays a lasting impression on us. It’s a travesty when films like “My Old Ass” seem to slip through the cracks. However, this one could be likely rescued by the irony of time finding it in a more accepting era—or just #Oscar voters getting off their own asses and finally considering movies out of their normal nomination playbooks. Watch this movie now. The end. ️️️1/2 (Out of 4 Because 5 Stars Are For Restaurants & Hotels Only) #FilmReview #ShortHandCritic

What if you met your future self and she/he told you not to do something to protect yourself, but you did it anyway? 'My Old Ass' is a cute romantic comedy that could be described as a 100% less grotesque version of 'The Substance' and a 50% less depressing version of 'All of Us Strangers.' Decent in every way, but the message surrounding **** identity that it sends can be disconcerting. And if you think the main character looks like Justin Bieber, wait for THAT scene.

Ok enough with some tried and true sentimental messaging and values about family and the passage of time. For me it just laid it a little thick and, pardon me, but it was a little too much up its own ass.

Spends more time on 'they/them' social politics and DEI check-boxes, than the actual plot. Inexcusable plotholes and terrible writing sink a premise that should be a simple, enjoyable coming-of-age story.

"My Old Ass" is a generic, derivative comedy-drama with some of the most infuriating gen-z dialogue that's so on-the-nose it might as well be pulled directly from a college student's Tumblr bio.