Grandma (film)

Grandma
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Paul Weitz
Produced by	Andrew Miano Paul Weitz Paris Kasidokostas-Latsis Terry Dougas
Written by	Paul Weitz
Starring	Lily Tomlin Julia Garner Marcia Gay Harden Judy Greer Laverne Cox Sam Elliott
Music by	Joel P. West
Cinematography	Tobias Datum
Edited by	Jonathan Corn
Production companies	1821 Media Depth of Field
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Classics
Release dates	January 30, 2015 (2015-01-30) (Sundance Film Festival) August 21, 2015 (2015-08-21) (United States)
Running time	79 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$600,000[2]
Box office	$7.1 million[2]

Grandma is a 2015 American comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by Paul Weitz.^[3] The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2015 and served as the closing night film.^[4]

The film is Lily Tomlin's first leading role in 27 years after co-starring with Bette Midler in 1988's comedy film Big Business. It is the second collaboration between Tomlin and Weitz, who previously directed her in his 2013 film Admission.^[3] The film was released on August 21, 2015, by Sony Pictures Classics.

Plot

Divided over six chapters, the film tells the story of Elle, a lesbian poet coping with the recent death of her long-term life partner. She ends a four-month relationship with a younger admirer, Olivia, before receiving a visit from her 18-year-old granddaughter Sage, who is pregnant and requests $630 for an abortion. As Elle is broke and Sage has had her credit card confiscated by her overbearing mother, the two embark on a road trip to come to terms with their troubles.

Elle forcefully extorts $50 from the father of the child, and then tries to call in a $400 debt from her friend Deathy, a tattoo artist. Because she is also broke at the time, Deathy can not help Elle and Sage beyond some $60 she borrows from the register, but gives Elle a new tattoo that looks like the letter "O", probably Olivia's initial, though Elle insists it is only meant to be a circle. Elle tries to sell some of her rare books to an acquaintance, but gets into a fight with Olivia, who is working at the cafe. Elle storms out when her friend, who is much more tech-savvy than Elle, gauges the price on eBay and offers her a paltry $60, and Olivia berates her as they leave.

Getting desperate, they visit Elle's ex-husband Karl, who Elle has not seen in decades. Elle tells him she needs to borrow the money for rent, and he requests a kiss in return. This leads to an argument over how Elle left the relationship, but when she pleads with him, he agrees to hand over the cash. After retrieving it from a strongbox he asks them to be honest about the reason for the money. Elle tells him that Sage needs an abortion, and Karl becomes angry and emotional because Elle aborted his child without telling him, yet went on to give birth to a baby born from a one-night stand. Elle explains that she wanted a child but not a husband, and Karl angrily says he will not pay for an abortion.

Elle and Sage work up the courage to visit Sage's busy mother, who is furious to learn she is pregnant in spite of having given her condoms. Her mom hands over the money, after which Elle attempts to drive Sage to the clinic, however their car breaks down. They hitch a ride and Sage has the procedure. Sage is forgiven by her mother, and is taken home. Elle is later seen having her car repaired at a garage. She takes a cab home, and on the way, spends her time giggling and rejoicing at the memories her partner Violet left behind. Before getting home, she makes a short stop at Olivia's house to apologize for saying their relationship meant nothing. She then leaves, only to find the cabdriver has left. The final scene shows Elle walking down the sidewalk, laughing, on her way home.

Cast

Production

Development

Weitz had the story idea for many years but it never really fully formed until he met and worked with Tomlin on the film Admission,^[5] saying that "After meeting Lily, the voice and the character really clicked, I had thought about it for years, so I had a lot of it worked out in my head, and then I just went to a coffee shop and wrote it longhand."^[3]

Weitz said the film cost under $600,000 to make.^[6]

Filming

Filming took place in Los Angeles in spring of 2014 and was completed in 19 days.^[3][6] The car driven by Elle, a 1955 Dodge Royal, is actually Lily Tomlin's car.^[7]

Marketing and release

A scene from the film, featuring Tomlin and Garner, was released on January 22, 2015.^[4] The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2015, as the closing night film.^[8] Shortly after, Sony Pictures Classics acquired the distribution rights of the film in United States.^[9] The film went onto screen at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 20, 2015.^[10] The film was released in a limited release on August 21, 2015.^[2]

Reception

Director Paul Weitz with cast Lily Tomlin, Julia Garner and Mo Aboul-Zelof at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

Grandma received positive reviews, and has a "certified fresh" score of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 142 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The site's consensus reads, "Boasting a stellar performance from Lily Tomlin and some powerfully empathetic work from writer-director Paul Weitz, Grandma is a dramedy that shouldn't have to ask you to visit.".^[11] Metacritic gives the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on reviews from 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[12]

Scott Foundas of Variety called it "An initially breezy family comedy about mothers, daughters and abortions that slowly sneaks up on you and packs a major wallop."^[13] Brian Moylan of The Guardian gave the film three out of five stars and said that it is "Possibly the greatest thing about Grandma is that it passes the Bechdel test with flying colours, better than any film I've seen recently."^[14] Edward Douglas in his review for ComingSoon praised the film that it is "A perfectly pleasant mix of humor and drama that will remind you how much Lily Tomlin is missed as a regular fixture in movies."^[15] While David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review by calling it "small-scale but consistently funny and poignant comedy-drama" and praising Tomlin said that it is "A sublime match of performer and role."

Tomlin has been called out for the strength of her performance.^[5] A. O. Scott of The New York Times cites her performance as energized and part of a late career renaissance.^[16] Additionally, actor Sam Elliott, who plays opposite Tomlin as Karl, has been praised for his work in the role.^[17]

For the 73rd Golden Globe Awards, Lily Tomlin was nominated for Best Actress - Musical or Comedy for her performance.^[18]

References

External links

• Grandma at the Internet Movie Database
• Grandma at Rotten Tomatoes
• Grandma at Metacritic