Lily Tomlin as an elderly, semi-retired poet and lesbian at the end of her rope: her latest girlfriend has left her, she's flat broke, she's not speaking to her grown daughter, and her teenage granddaughter has just turned up on her doorstep needing $630 for an abortion. Small-scaled road-movie with chapter-stops for the various people in Tomlin's life (they alternately want to help her or shut the door on her. Tragicomedy in the modern age, plain-spoken (with reams of foul language) and bursts of violent temperament (some of it verging, unsuccessfully, on parody). Writer-director Paul Weitz allows his star lots of room to emote, to sound off, to be belligerent and stubborn, and even occasionally be funny. The tone of the movie is hard to pin down, with situations that waver between the realistic and the absurd (sometimes in the same scene). While the film is exhausting, it is also rewarding, with a nicely screwy grandma-granddaughter bond between Tomlin and young Julia Garner. A visit to the house of former-flame Sam Elliott doesn't quite wash (and his scary demeanor introduces an ugly undercurrent to the movie); also, the events during the final jaunt are too broad, simply padding the running-time. The closing moments, however, are terrific, ending the story on a wistful, hopeful/not hopeful note that is entirely appropriate for the central character. **1/2 from ****
Review of Grandma
