My feeling after seeing Thelma? I want a grandson in his budding adulthood who cares about me the way he cares about his grandma. (Added note: This is not a slam against my own children and grandchildren, as I have none.) (That I know of.)
Grandma is 94-year-old June Squibb in her first, and highly praised, starring film role.
THELMA THE CHARACTER AND THE PLOT
Writer/director Josh Margolin‘s experience of his own grandmother has apparently informed a rather refreshing view of aging. In envisioning this story, he imagined what could occur if she were faced with a certain type of crisis. Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times:
She lives independently in a large, comfortable Los Angeles apartment, is on good terms with her daughter Gail (Parker Posey) and son-in-law Alan (Clark Gregg), and is frequently visited by her loving grandson Danny (a charming Fred Hechinger), who helps her with her computer. Though sometimes a bit lonely — she misses her late husband Teddy, and notes ruefully that ‘all of my friends are dead. … I didn’t expect to get so old’ — she’s doing well. Until the day a scammer calls, posing as Danny and tricking her into mailing thousands of dollars to an unknown address — and causing her to suddenly doubt her ability to function in a world that may have left her behind.
But what if Thelma, despite a number of serious health issues, chose to fight back? I mean, dangerously so.
Leonard Maltin: “If it weren’t for casting a bona fide nonagenarian in the title role, Thelma might not work at all. But it doesn’t pander to its audience and treats its characters with dignity and a dash of comic exaggeration. Thelma’s adventure is depicted as a senior version of Tom Cruise’s derring-do in the Mission: Impossible series and the conceit comes off surprisingly well.”
Lindsey Bahr, APNews: “Though there is something inherently silly and goofy about the idea of a grandmother on a ‘Mission: Impossible’-style journey, ‘Thelma’ transcends its on-paper limitations and becomes something wholly unexpected. Kind of like its main character. This isn’t not just an idea of an old person slotted into a high concept gag. It’s specific and at least somewhat realistic. The scooter she and the late Richard Roundtree (as her friend Ben) ride might be slower than Tom Cruise on foot, but the energy is high and infectious.”
GRANDSON DANNY
David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: “One of the key assets of the appealing ensemble, alongside Squibb, is Fred Hechinger, who was so terrific on season one of The White Lotus. (Hey, Mike White, it’s not too late for a spinoff series about Quinn’s life with the Hawaiian canoe paddlers and his folks’ efforts to get him back home.) Hechinger plays Thelma’s adoring grandson Daniel, introduced patiently helping her wade through a thicket of emails in an opening scene that establishes the limits of her computer literacy.”
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: Danny “…struggles with feelings of worthlessness (‘I have no ability to do anything!’ he moans). Alongside his grandma, he finds his purpose.”
ADDITIONAL SELECTED REVIEWS
Matthew Lickona, San Diego Reader: “Squibb is almost unbelievably lively and sharp, and Richard Roundtree serves as a fine, sober counterpoint to her ‘age is just a number’ attitude.”
Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle: “‘Thelma’ always emphasizes seniors’ capabilities, not their limits.”
Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News:.”..and those scenes between grandma and grandson touched my soul.”
