Thelma (Sundance) Review
PLOT: When a ninety-four-year-old grandmother is ripped off by phone scammers for $10k, she goes on a mission to get her money back.
REVIEW: Watching Thelma is a bittersweet experience. While led by the always delightful June Squibb, the film co-stars the late Richard Roundtree in his meatiest role in years. Between this and the recent Jane Fonda movie Moving On, Roundtree was on the verge of the comeback that long-eluded him, only for him to die suddenly at 81 in the fall. It’s a shame because the former Shaft star is a delight in this low-key caper flick.
It offers a long overdue leading role to the great June Squibb. At ninety-four, the actress has been in high demand in recent years, seemingly still sharp as a tack. In Thelma, she plays the title role, being a doting Grandmother pushing back at the notion that she’s too old to live independently. Her daughter (Parker Posey) and son-in-law (Clark Gregg) want to put her in a retirement community, but she likes being on her own. The only one who backs her in this regard is her beloved grandson, Danny (Fred Hechinger), who spends a lot of time with her, exposing her to classics like the Mission: Impossible series. It’s when scammers pose as Danny, begging for money, that she gets ripped off. This, of course, is based on a real scam when criminals pose as beloved family members to screw the elderly out of money.
While the recent Beekeeper showed just how deadly a price you should pay if you scam the elderly, Squibb’s Thelma isn’t taking it lying down either. Inspired by seeing Tom Cruise on the cover of a magazine, she decides to take a page out of Mission: Impossible and get her money back.
The pleasure of Thelma, which is an admittedly low-key movie, is just watching Squibb do her thing. Josh Margolin, who wrote and directed the film, makes it a loving tribute to the elderly, with knowing nods to how out of sorts they can be with technology. But the film also has a strong message – that the elderly shouldn’t be forced to lose their agency as they get old. In the movie, her well-meaning children treat her like a child, even if both (Gregg and Posey) are a lot less capable and more neurotic than she is. Her grandson is the only one who treats her like an adult, and Squibb’s chemistry with Hechinger is top-notch.
Another interesting thing about Thelma is that the film presents retirement communities as perfectly appealing places, with Roundtree’s widower, Ben, a resident there. He tells Thelma that he likes it there, with them casting him as Daddy Warbucks in a (bad) production of Annie they’re mounting. But, simultaneously, the movie respects Thelma’s wish to live alone.
Thelma also works well as a loving tribute to heist movies, particularly the Mission Impossible franchise. At one point, Squibb watches Mission: Impossible Fallout in amazement as Cruise does his stunts (to which her grandson replies, “Yeah, that’s Cruise”). His resolve inspires Thelma to take back what’s hers, and in that regard this is ultimately an inspiring little romp about taking back what’s yours. It’s low-key, but it’s a cute and sweet crowd pleaser.
The post Thelma (Sundance) Review appeared first on JoBlo.