2/10 Movie Trip

Paul McGuire Grimes, creator of Paul’s Trip to the Movies, gives us his take on two movies out in theaters, “80 for Brady” and “Magic Mike’s Last Dance”.

80 FOR BRADY (in theaters)

Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sally Field, and Rita Moreno are legends, icons, trailblazers of the big screen. They’ve won every award that can be handed out, and now they’re all starring together in the winning comedy 80 For Brady. The film is inspired by the true story of a group of friends all over 80 and die-hard fans of football player, Tom Brady. Lily Tomlin stars as Lou, who you could say is the glue that holds this friendship together. It’s been a standing tradition for her friends Maura (Moreno), Trish (Fonda), and Betty (Field) to gather on Sunday and watch Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. They even have their superstitions like knocking over a bowl of chips and Betty standing on a ladder as the game starts. It’s Lou who suggests the four of them head to the Super Bowl to have that once in a lifetime experience. Their trip involves busting Maura out of her retirement home, a hot wings contest with Guy Fieri and sneaking into the big game thanks to Billy Porter’s character.

-Also starring: Tom Brady, Bob Balaban, Glynn Turman and Harry Hamlin.

-This takes a fresh spin on your traditional football movie and uses the 2017 Super Bowl as the Holy Grail for these friends. You don’t have to be a football fan or Tom Brady fan to join them in the fun.

-One of the least surprising things about the film is that Fonda, Tomlin, Field, and Moreno radiate joy and happiness from the moment the film opens. It’s comforting to see these legendary performers having a ball working together and it jumps through the screen. Their banter together is everything you want it to be as they mostly play into their brands.

-It’s easy to believe Sally Field as the former university professor who is a whiz at analytics and statistics. Jane Fonda is the wild one of the group swapping out wigs and outfits to match the occasion, and the real life close-knit friendship between Fonda and Tomlin is brought on screen as well between their two characters.

-The story is partly road trip adventure with all sorts of antics thrown in once they arrive at Super Bowl headquarters, including a football toss contest, hot wings contest, and they wind up at a party accidently taking edible gummies.

–80 For Brady is surprisingly deeper than it appears on the surface. There’s a personal motivation for Lou as to why she’s determined to get to the SuperBowl, and we see each one of the four main characters push for something greater what their everyday life has to offer.

–This is an entertaining romp full of laughs, inspirational speeches, and four brilliant actresses sharing the screen together.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 TICKET STUBS

MAGIC MIKE’S LAST DANCE (in theaters)

I don’t think anyone would have predicted Magic Mike would have spawned into a movie trilogy, a docu-series on HBO Max, and multiple live productions including a Vegas experience. Now Channing Tatum is back for Magic Mike’s Last Dance. He has led this franchise as Mike Lane whose days of stripping are long over and his days making furniture have also ended. He’s now working as a bartender for private events. His latest client is Maxandra Mendoza, played by Salma Hayek Pinault. She’s a wealthy housewife going through a nasty divorce. She pays him for a private lap dance, and then pitches Mike an offer in London too good to pass up even if he doesn’t know exactly what the job is. He says he’s retired from dancing, and yet, she hires him to rejuvenate and choreograph a period drama that’s playing at a theater she owns and give it that Magic Mike touch.

–Magic Mike’s Last Dance isonce again directed by Steven Soderbergh who also directed the first film. What’s fascinating about this unlikely trilogy is that Tatum and Soderbergh have made each film distinctly different in its story and scope.

-The third turns this onto the female audience base thanks to Salma Hayek Pinault’s character who wants to “Wake them up with a wave of passion” as she describes. She’s determined to rejuvenate women’s sexuality and needs Channing Tatum’s character to pull it off.

-With this taking place on a theater stage, Soderbergh and his choreographers incorporate many styles of street dance in conjunction with the exotic dancing we come to expect from the series. Don’t worry there are some very erotic dances thanks to Channing Tatum, but this has more of a Magic Mike meets Bridgerton feel to it.

-You would think that the Soderbergh and the gang would go out with a big splashy bang, this film seems a bit muted compared to the others. The story is fairly simple and straightforward despite it asking questions about the stereotypes we apply to strippers, sex workers, or embracing our sexual needs. All of these themes could have been explored more.

-Soderbergh applies his known-auteur vibes to it making it seem like a low-budget affair made over a short period of time.

-Salma Hayek Pinault is full of life here and I can’t imagine the role with a different actress.

–Magic Mike’s Last Dance stands as its own solo story, so you don’t necessarily need to catch up with the others first. It’s a fun, entertaining enough as Channing Tatum and Salma Hayek Pinault bring the heat. And fans will be excited to hear Ginuwine’s “Pony” all over again.

RATING: 3 out of 5 TICKET STUBS