80 for Brady

There are times when just the four ladies on screen make this mildly amusing, but sadly that's about as entertaining as it gets. The four friends have been following NFL superstar Tom Brady throughout his career and when he, just shy of his 40th birthday, is to play for the "Patriots" in the Super Bowl, they decide - by hook, or by crook - that they are going to make the trip to Houston. Without going into too much detail, they manage to get some tickets and off they go on what becomes the adventure of a lifetime. It's got a bit of romance, a bit of light comedy, a little familial discord and it sets out to demonstrate, clearly, that age is no barrier to people having a good time. The script, though, is really rather poor and though Sally Field and Lily Tomlin do a little better, neither Jane Fonda nor Rita Moreno really have enough to do. It's all a bit, well, bitty - too episodic. It doesn't really flow. We know these folks have all the awards known to man on their mantelpieces, but somehow there is actually rather little star quality on display here. I just didn't think they gelled well at all and there are stereotypes galore as it becomes gradually cheesier and sentimental. It passes ninety minutes OK, but it's not really a cinema film. It will fill a slot on the telly at Christmas easily enough, but otherwise it's unremarkable stuff.