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If you’re looking for a Super Bowl movie to get hyped for the 2024 Super Bowl LVIII, there’s no better option than 80 for Brady, which is streaming free on Amazon Prime Video and Paramount+. And, at the risk of ruining my decorated reputation as a senior film reporter, I must say: 80 for Brady is good, actually.
Look. I understand why this 2023 comedy became the butt of many a joke on Film Twitter. (Even a whole year since the film’s release, the social media site is still full of film nerds poking fun at the movie.) Everything about 80 for Brady—from the rhyming title, to the overly photoshopped poster, to the early February release date—suggested that the movie would be terrible. The all-star cast of aging legends—Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field—added a layer of prestige, but it also invited unfavorable comparisons to those actresses’ more serious, artistic oeuvre. Oscar-winner Rita Moreno shouldn’t be high on edibles, hallucinating a room full of Guy Fieris! It’s not dignified!
But if you let go of the notion that broad comedies (pun intended) are an inherently low art form, I think you’ll find that 80 for Brady is a genuinely fun time. Directed by Kyle Marvin, with a screenplay by Booksmart co-writers Sarah Haskins and Emily Halpern, 80 for Brady is loosely based on the true story of four women in their 80s (played by Tomlin, Fonda, Moreno, and Field), who love the New England Patriots, and get together every Sunday to watch the game. When Tomlin’s character, Lou, hears about a chance to win four tickets to see the Patriots play in the 2016 Super Bowl in Houston, she knows that this is her and her friends’ time to shine.
80 for Brady doesn’t reinvent the wheel. It hits the classic beats of friendship-based teen comedies, from sneaking out of the house (well, retirement home) to accidentally taking drugs at a party. The jokes are solid, if not inspired. But all four funny ladies elevate the material, leading to some genuine laugh-out-loud moments. (Like, for example, a bewildered Field responding “An ambulance?” when a volunteer asks who she should call if Field blacks out during a spicy wing-eating contest. Or Moreno rolling her Rs when she pronounces “Guy Fieri.”)
But what pushes 80 for Brady from “fine” to “good, actually” is the genuinely touching storyline of Tomlin’s character, Lou. She’s a recovering cancer patient who is avoiding a call from her doctor about the possible return of the disease. It’s later revealed she didn’t win the tickets in a radio contest; she sold her car and bought them online. Unfortunately for Lou, those tickets turned out to be a scam. We love a relatable queen who makes disastrous financial decisions while outrunning her problems! And we love a plot that actually makes narrative sense—which is more than I can say for quite a few recent studio comedies!
Lou imagines an inspirational speech from her idol, Tom Brady, and manages to find a way for the ladies to sneak into the game. Once inside, they are devastated to discover the Patriots aren’t doing so hot. In the best scene in the film, the girls bully their way into the control booth, and Lou delivers her own inspirational speech—right into the earpiece in Tom Brady’s helmet. Seven-time Emmy-winner Lily Tomlin proves that she’s very much still got it with this monologue. “You fight and you never give up,” Tomlin tells Brady, her voice quavering with emotion. “So I’m not giving up either. I don’t know what’s ahead for me—but if you fight, I’ll fight. Now go out there and win. Let’s go!”
It’s so moving, it’s no wonder that Brady responds to the speech by screaming to his team, “Let’s f*cking go!”
80 for Brady may not deserve to go down in cinematic history or anything, but it’s a funny, enjoyable, and genuinely touching comedy. It deserved more than its 58 percent critical rating on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. It deserved more than becoming a punchline on Letterboxd. At the very least, it deserves a watch or rewatch in the spirit of the Super Bowl season. Let’s f*cking go!
- 80 For Brady
- Paramount+
- tom brady
