I think the best
way to say this is that the movie had a talented cast but wasted it on trying
to make a point that didn’t need to be made in the context in which the movie
was crafted. I knew what the movie was about before I saw it—old women trying
to do some cheerleading—but I expected more than just that. The movie didn’t
inspire in any way, nor did the comedy hit home at any point.
The movie only
had me laughing once at a joke I saw coming, but liked anyway. Hey! You don’t
say “over my dead body” in a retirement community.
The movie had
the idea of old women standing together to have fun doing something that is way
out of their demographic league. In the end, I feel old people will not find
this movie entertaining. The whole idea of giving them adversaries—like a son
wanting his mother to be safe and the retirement community supervisor thinking
it is immoral—did not pan out well. Especially when the son was a jerk, and the
supervisor didn’t have much power to matter.
I felt the movie
would have been better served if the adults just did what they wanted without
having to scale unnecessary hurdles that didn’t even stand a chance.
The movie
introduces us to Martha (Diane Keaton), a single older woman dying of cancer.
She is alone, never having had children, and doesn’t want to die hooked up to
machines. She forgoes cancer treatment and moves to a retirement community,
where she is shown around and told she can join any of the clubs or start her
own.
She meets her
next-door neighbor, a very in-your-face lady, Sheryl (Jacki Weaver). Sheryl
kind of forces Martha to open up, and they form a friendship. It’s Sheryl who
sees an old picture of Martha in a cheerleading uniform and asks her to pick up
the pompoms again. Sheryl didn’t really mean it, as we find out much later, but
Martha took the idea to heart and started a cheerleading club, much to the
dislike of the community supervisor.
Soon, she had
enough ladies, and they started practicing, hoping to compete and show what
they knew.
I cannot, in
good faith, ask anyone to see this, regardless of their age. The movie is not a
good way to make older people feel inspired to get up and do something. The
movie itself made a mockery of the idea of getting up and doing anything
instead of lying down.
I expected more
and was disappointed that the movie didn’t even bother to add a twist in the
plot.
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