80 for Brady review – screen queens go wild in charming but slight comedy

Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Sally Field and Lily Tomlin make for soothing company in a silly but good-natured film about NFL fans

During the Patriots dynasty of 17 division titles across our century's first two decades, quarterback Tom Brady held a supernatural sway over the mature women of New England. In this ascended townie-jock, a housewife could see someone that while not literally named Sean, nonetheless presented a more handsome, wealthy and successful image of a man like her husband. (The fantasy worked both ways, too; at the time, having Tommy Touchdown meant a lady got to be Gisele Bundchen.) But mostly they loved him for the same reason anybody loves any athlete, which is to say because he's a winner. When defeat seems all but assured, he's the guy you want calling the shots, the unstoppable will that once brought come-from-behind victories now enough to make a wide-release audience temporarily forget how much they detest this ball-deflating ring-hoarder.

His regular fourth-quarter miracles are a testament to the fact that being down isn't the same as being out, and that can-do resilience forms the flimsy link connecting him to the quartet of greying legends who star in the mild, pleasurable 80 for Brady. New Hollywood icons Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno and Sally Field play a real-life group of Massachusetts galpals who found a new structure for their lifelong friendship in the weekly broadcast of Pats games during the Brady-Belichick era, coming together to check in and catch up over an activity more stimulating than bingo. Good company is the name of the game here, both in the nourishing bond between these geriatric besties as well as the chance for us to spend another 100 minutes in the presence of showbiz royalty. But for all its congenial upbeatitude, this salute to blue-hair camaraderie has been molded into the shape of a movie without much finesse. That never-say-die spirit, for instance, is crystallized with a pep talk from Tomlin that sees her resolve to beat cancer inspire Brady to battle the Atlanta Falcons into overtime.