Studio comedies might have one of the worst track records when it comes to quality if we were to compare all genres. There will be a surge of great comedies and then we would get a decade of bad comedies with a few gems. We are currently in a good period for studio comedies at this moment in time. Last year had some great ones that revitalized the genre and this year has had a couple great comedies so far. Those films being M3GAN and the film i’m talking about in this article. That film is 80 for Brady.
Anyone who saw the trailer for this film might have thought that it looked tired and generic. That’s probably the fault of the marketing because I saw the trailer multiple times in December and didn’t think that it would be any good, but I was slightly interested in it. My gravitation to the film was one of morbid curiosity because I thought it was gonna be a bad or overdone comedy with some notable names. I was completely wrong on that notion and i’m happy about that.
80 For Brady is about a group of friends (Lilly Tomlin, Sally Field, Rita Moreno, Jane Fonda) who are in their senior phase of life who decide to travel to the Super Bowl to meet Tom Brady who they all idolize. Right off the bat before seeing the film, it gave me some Last Vegas vibes. I’ve seen that film a handful of times in my life and I enjoy it every viewing. It’s a group of four friends who go to Vegas for a wedding. It’s almost the Lawful Good to The Hangover’s Chaotic Evil. The film definitely has that “Last Vegas” vibe but it also incorporates some elements that call back to other films, some of which are quite interesting. There’s a scene in the film where they directly reference and make a joke about Eyes Wide Shut which caught me off guard. A portion of the third act even becomes Detroit Rock City for a moment.
The writing and the performances are the strongest elements of this film. Comedies are only as funny as the material inside them and this film is actually pretty funny and entertaining. The film also has an endearing and touching layer that I appreciated. I watch many comedies every year that are either not funny or they spend to much time referencing things that will fade out of relevancy by the end of the year. This film never drifts into those territories and anchors its humour on the relationship between the four women and also plays into the strengths of each actress. Each character feels like they’re an equally important piece of the puzzle. It never feels like they are only in the film because of the name value because their characters all have importance and weight to the story.
That directly plays into the great performances from all four women. Tomlin, Field, Fonda and Moreno all decided to give the performances their all and it shows. There isn’t anything groundbreaking or academy award worthy, but for a comedy of this calibre, their performances hold it above the rest. It’s easy for actors to take a film and sleepwalk through it but that’s not the case with this film. It seems like they all had fun making the film and they seem like they really connected to the characters that they were portraying. The side characters also are fun additions to the film as none of them feel overbearing or unnecessary. Anyone who saw M3GAN this year might catch a certain actor also in this film for a split second.
When it comes to the message of the film, it’s pretty easy to decipher. It’s very much a film that discusses the beauty of friendship and the importance of those friends who are their through the important developments and changes in your lives. These women were friends in this film for 16 years and they went through a lot together, strengthening the love between them. It’s also an interesting take on the idea of loving something bigger than yourself and finding deep importance in something that brings you and the ones that you love closer. That concept being the love of football in this film.
80 For Brady is another great comedy hit in this current boom when it comes to the genre. Great performances from all four leads and an endearing and funny script makes this one a fun watch for families, especially ones who love sports or the women at the front of this film. It’s a good time to release this film as well seeing that the Super Bowl is just around the corner!
The Rating
