eric262003 In the opening scenes of this financially challenged flick "Grandma" under the direction of Paul Weitz, I swore I was going to show my disdain for it. But after a while, I started to progressively get into it as the characters kind of became easy to relate with as their stories drew its attention to its audiences making it all the more easier to watch. It's a rare finding to see a film where the film is sinking in expectations in the beginning only to emerge later on the film, but "Grandma" is one of those exceptions. Lily Tomlin is the leading performer as Elle Reid, a cynical smarmy, foul-mouthed lesbian poet, who before the film starts has just broken up with her girlfriend (Judy Greer) after courting for four months. In an attempt to vent out her frustration, she regards her lover as nothing more than a footnote. Shortly after this messy breakup, she gets a visit from Sage (Julia Garner), her granddaughter who needs some much needed cash to go with her abortion but is too afraid to ask her intimidating mother Judy (the always incredible and fearful Marcia Gay Harden). Elle is also low on dough, but still takes Sage along for a rough and wild ride to get some old allies to see if they could conjure up a few bucks that they owe her.The opening scenes were quite eye-catching, but the early scenes were placed as just an excuse to have Tomlin's Elle to churn out the laughs by embarrassing Sage in one situation after the next. They visit a coffee shop that was once a clinic for women facing similar problems as Sage's and sure enough Elle causes a scene by loudly exploiting the high costs of abortions which leads Elle get into a verbal sparring match with an unfortunate worker named Chau (John Cho). They visit the diner where her ex Olivia works, which results in a myriad of childish verbal abuse and condescending insults. They come to a tattoo parlour and the tattoo artist (Laverne Cox) isn't strong in her finances, but offers Elle a new tattoo. Tomlin is truly a great legend in comedy that traces back to the 1960's, but sadly here she seems reduced to just playing the type-cast sassy grandma.It's just that we've seen this way too many times in movies where old-timers get involved in awkward situations and are doing it just to get a laugh from their audience. And to make it more appalling they force the comedy down our throats with that awful pizzicato scores in the background.By the time Elle gets to visit one of her rare relationships with her ex-husband Karl (Sam Elliott), whom she was estranged with for 30 years before discovering that her true affection is with women, this movie starts to pick up. To see her go so far as to visit the man she kept herself apart for so long clearly points out she's low on options to get money while reminiscing awful memories about their troubled past.Even though his role is very brief, Elliott truly brings out the best in his performance and truly shows that less could mean more Elliott brings a lot of depth, emotional pain and nuance to his role he is the character that garners the most sympathy from. After all the superficial and forceful humour depicted here, Elliott turns the table with a more real and raw turn that has a dramatic edge to the film. Elle starts to change on me as we see her transform from a sitcom like geriatric to a more humane character we could all relate to. Even when the film returns to the madcap silliness, I have become more invested in her character. Sure abortion is a subject matter that is very sensitive to grasp at, it will surely spark divinity in how this situation is handled. One thing for sure, Sage is not going to change her mind about going through this difficult procedure. What makes this film so unique is that every character has a differing opinion of this heavy-handed subject matter, but it's handled in a mature perspective, even if the comical elements tell you otherwise.There are no villains in how one feels about abortion which is refreshing in itself. The other trait that makes this film unique is that it goes along with Sage's decision without being judgmental even though the baggage she carries with her is something she'll have to deal with.The midway comeback in this movie isn't strong on unpredictability. The closing scenes are cliched with sentimental vibes and moral lessons we would expect from a standard comedy-drama. However, the emotions will surely tug at your heartstrings and hope that all ends well for the characters in the film once it ends. It's truly a film one could treasure and feel good about after watching it.

meeza Writer-Director Paul Weitz' dramedy "Grandma" might not be a grand showstopper of a movie but it has a grand performance from veteran actress Lily Tomlin, and that was grandly suffice. Tomlin stars as Elle, an outspoken & tough-as-nails grandmother/mom who assists her granddaughter Sage in her mission to get funds for an abortion. It might sound like a very simplistic plot, but there were some dynamic family connections to it; especially when Sage's mom/Elle's daughter Judy comes into the picture. Weitz draws up "Grandma" as a mini-tour movie highlighting Elle and Sage, and it primarily focuses on how an vociferous and mean-spirited grandmother could still show her "heart of gold" to do whatever it takes to help her granddaughter. Sure, there is some formulaic family feud dynamics we have seen before, especially in the relationship between Elle and Judy; but it's not that huge of a flaw. Tomlin was grandly snubbed for a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her outstanding performance here as Elle. Although, Marcia Gay Harden as Judy and Julia Garner as Sage were performances that were not too grand. I did like though the supporting work of the vastly underrated Judy Greer as Elle's younger lover Olivia, and Sam Elliot as Elle's ex-boyfriend Karl. But it's Tomlin who was the most grandiose in "Grandma", and that enough is worth a grand look at this movie. **** Good

Simply-Red There is almost nothing funny in this movie. I can't imagine how anyone would describe this with the word "comedy" even if it is followed by "drama".The movie is not terrible, it's just not really good. There are some decent life lessons about the past we leave in our wake and how our actions affect others, so there is some redeemable quality in the film. Those heady movie lovers that for some reason love slow, dialogous films...like to read a lot of books...and usually have ticking and chiming clocks...and cats in their home, love this kind of flick.Spoiler: What the movie's description fails to tell the potential viewer of the film is that not only is Lily Tomlin's character a lesbian and her daughter chose to not have a husband or wife because she is a workaholic and was inseminated with her child, Lily's granddaughter. In addition...the "help" the teenager/granddaughter is looking for in the description is to obtain money quickly for an abortion. So an unwitting viewer like me had no idea that was coming.I think the description is misleading and should be clearer, which would be fairer to a large segment of the population that doesn't find lesbian and abortion content entertaining at all. The Netflix description doesn't mention anything of this stuff, and the IMDb description mentions an "unplanned pregnancy" but doesn't help the potential viewer any more than that.I didn't take too much exception to the lesbian and abortion subject matter because the movie didn't really take those topics "over the top", in fact the movie dealt with it pretty gently. I think it missed an opportunity to deal with the psychological effects on a girl or woman from having an abortion. The movie dealt with the physical discomfort, but didn't really address the difficulty many girls/women have dealing with their decision after the fact. I don't mind educating young girls about abortion as long as it is a FULL education…those who promote easy abortion availability tend to leave out the "gory details" and long term potential psychological effects on a woman/girl.All in all, this movie was a waste of time for me and not very entertaining. There are some fairly decent life lesson opportunities for learning, but I already understand every single one of them, so there was nothing for me to learn either.This movie is rightfully rated "R". The problem is so many parents do not enforce ratings suggestions. This movie should not be seen by children under 16 in my opinion and if they do watch it younger than that, the parent should be watching it with them. I think it will be pretty boring for young people anyway, but young girls may be kept interested by the abortion issue.

edwagreen Where was the Oscar nomination for Lily Tomlin as best actress here. Wow, was she ever passed up for this.This no-nonsense academic grandmother who is way ahead of her time gave Tomlin the opportunity to present one of her best performances ever. Ascerbic, to the point, but the hip lesbian grandmother pulled no punches here.The film is devoted to Tomlin trying to pay for an abortion for her granddaughter. It depicts their various adventures in this pursuit and culminates in one scene where Tomlin beats up the father of the child.Grieving the loss of her partner Violet and ending of a relationship with a much younger girl will only complicate matters but Tomlin's character has the mettle to carry on.