SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
Let’s stop calling Lily Tomlin “a national treasure.” That phrase always suggests to me someone who is merely resting on her laurels. That’s not Lily. Within the past year, she received the Kennedy Center Honor, is nominated for an Emmy for her Netflix series “Grace & Frankie” and now delivers a powerful performance in Paul Weitz’s new film “Grandma.”
Yes, it’s all about Lily Tomlin, but let’s give a nod to writer/director Paul Weitz. After working with Tomlin on the forgettable 2013 film “Admission,” Weitz wisely decided to sculpt “Grandma” around her many talents, crafting the character of a sharp woman who must go back to face those with whom she once hurt because she needs them now. The result is perhaps Weitz’s best film ever.
Still grieving the death of her beloved partner Violet, septuagenarian poet Elle Reid (Tomlin) cruelly breaks up with her new girlfriend Olivia (Judy Greer), dismissing her as a mere “footnote.” After Olivia departs, Elle weeps bitterly in her shower at her loss. Her moping is soon interrupted by her teenage granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner) who appears on her doorstep, announces that she is pregnant, and asks Grandma for over $600 to finance an abortion she has scheduled for later that day.
In the film’s major contrivance, Elle, having recently become debt-free, has cut up all of her credit cards to make wind chimes out of them, so she is dead broke herself. To help Sage, she has little choice than to hit the road to get the money that her granddaughter needs.
Her first few encounters — with an uptight coffeehouse owner (John Cho) and Sage’s loser baby-daddy (Nat Wolff) — go pretty much the way you’d expect, with the men no match for Elle’s sass and hockey-stick prowess. It’s funny if a bit predictable.
Things deepen, however, when Elle realizes that she will have to face some figures from her past in order to help Sage. Some go well — a sentimental visit with a friend who knew Violet, tattoo-artist Deathy (Laverne Cox) — and some don’t — a bitter argument with a former feminist sister-in-arms Carla (the late Elizabeth Peña). Even though in other films, scenes like these might seem like throwaways, Cho, Wolff, Cox and Peña make even their small scenes memorable. Weitz has assembled a pretty deep bench in character-acting talent here.
Then “Grandma” really kicks in. Elle swallows her pride and visits a former flame (Sam Elliott) to help. I will not spoil this remarkable sequence, but the pas de deux between Tomlin and Elliott is award-worthy, possibly the finest dramatic sequence that I’ve seen so far this year (and this in a comedy!). Tomlin is stunning here, and Elliott….I’ve been a big fan of Sam Elliott for decades, with his laconic drawl poised to steal every scene in every one of his films. But “Grandma” is arguably his career best — he opens up here to reveal the extremely vulnerable man behind the drawl — and the work is devastating.
We haven’t even gotten to the most dreaded confrontation — with Elle’s daughter and Sage’s workaholic mother Judy (Marcia Gay Harden) who is unaware of Sage’s pregnancy and plans for an abortion. Judy appears on the surface to be a cliche, but in Harden’s hands, she becomes anything but.
This is Tomlin’s finest performance since her Oscar-nominated work in Robert Altman’s “Nashville” 40 (!!!) years ago, as she slowly reveals layers of Elle’s sensitivity, pulling us closer to the character even as she probes deeper into her past. It’s beautiful piece of acting.
OK, maybe Lily Tomlin is a national treasure. But at age 76, she’s also a damn fine actress working at the very top of her game.
GRADE: B+
