80 for Brady – A Fun Time With Four Legends (Early Review)

80 for Brady follows four elderly female friends and long-time New England Patriots fans (Tomlin, Fonda, Moreno, and Field) as they travel to Houston to watch their hero Tom Brady and the New England Patriots play in the 2017 Super Bowl. The film is loosely based on a true story but very clearly features mostly fictional events and situations. 80 for Brady is a tough one to discuss because it hardly has a plot or all that much substance for that matter and the characters aren’t the most fleshed out or developed. There are times where it barely even feels like a real film but thankfully it’s carried wonderfully by its four leading ladies who help make this so much more enjoyably, funny, and charming than it has any right to be. If it weren’t for its four leads, and their exuberant chemistry together, this wouldn’t work at all but because of them and their commitment to the material this is a delightful, cute, and fun little watch that just about anyone can enjoy especially its target audience.

All of these screen legends bounce off each other really well and get to show off their excellent knack for comedy. Out of the cast, Tomlin is given the most to do and her character has the most dramatic storyline of the bunch by far. Tomlin is excellent with both the comedic and dramatic material and she easily gives the best performance in the film. But as great as she is the real scene stealers are Field and Moreno who are both absolutely priceless in their roles. The entire cast all clearly had a blast making this, but one can really tell that Moreno and Field are having the most fun and it really rubs off on the viewer. Their characters are both primarily involved in the best sequences and are responsible for the film’s biggest laughs. The only member of the main cast who doesn’t really get to show off that much is Fonda. Fonda is great as always and her presence in anything is always very welcome but she’s essentially just playing another version of herself, and it doesn’t help that her character has the least to do and is given the least interesting storyline outside of her obsession with Rob Gronkowski and another love interest who we won’t spoil. Without giving away how they impact the story or where they pop up in the film, all the cameos/small roles from the NFL side of things are a lot of fun too and its honestly shocking how many familiar faces pop up in this.

With all that being said this is hardly a great film and it’s a little tough to even call it a good one due to how slight and unmemorable it is in the long run. This film mostly just consists of it’s four leads getting into ridiculous and comedic situations for 90-minutes straight while trying to make their way into the Super Bowl. Each situation they get themselves into somehow only gets sillier and more outlandish as the film goes on whether it be eating marijuana gummies at the biggest party in town or entering a hot wings competition hosted by Guy Fieri. But once one thinks it can’t get any more ridiculous it concludes with one of the most absurd and far-fetched finales of the past decade and yet it still works due to the sincerity of it all. This isn’t a laugh a minute type of comedy and quite a few of the jokes land with a great big thud but there’s honestly more laughs to be found here than you’d expect even if they could’ve taken some scenes a lot further.

As corny, clichéd, and cringe induing as this can be in its worst moments, it’s big heart and sweet nature are enough to give this a mild pass. This is the exact type of film one would expect it to be based on the trailers and promotions which is precisely what most viewers will be looking for and thankfully it’s the best possible version of that movie for those who doubted it.

still courtesy of Paramount Pictures

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Connor Carey

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