I don’t throw around the term “genius” loosely, but Lily Tomlin’s imagination and comic timing really merits the term. It’s always a pleasure to watch her work and the Tomlin vehicle Grandma, although minor Tomlin, is worthwhile. Tomlin plays a crusty retiree whose high school-age granddaughter (Julia Garner) shows up at her door with an urgent need that she doesn’t want to tell her mother (Marcia Gay Harden) about. They go on an adventurous quest for a solution – all in suburban LA.
Grandma is not a great movie, but it’s much more than a curmudgeonly geezer movie. Writer-director Paul Weitz, who co-wrote and co-directed About a Boy, gives Tomlin a vivid character to play, and there are some excellent performances for Tomlin to interact with. Judy Greer is brilliant as Tomlin’s recent lover. And this is the final performance for one of my favorites, the late Elizabeth Peña (Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Lone Star).
The biggest surprise in Grandma is Sam Elliott, who is ALWAYS good, but I’ve never seen him explode in as searing a performance as this. It’s remarkable, and Elliott steals the movie.
Grandma is available to stream from Amazon Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.