At 94, June Squibb defies all the big-screen clichés about little old ladies. Ride along with her.
Have you heard about the new youth tonic that’s just arrived on the market? It’s called “Thelma,” it’s playing at your local movie house, and it stars theSquibb’s been acting professionally for the last seven decades or so, but she’s only been getting bigger parts in recent years, with her performance as Bruce Dern’s ornery wife in “Nebraska” earning her a supporting actress Oscar nomination. “Thelma” marks her first lead role in a feature film, and it’s safe to say that, at 94, a star is born.
“Thelma” casts Squibb as Thelma Post, an elderly widow living contentedly and independently in Los Angeles’ Encino neighborhood, despite the loving concerns of her daughter Gail , son-in-law Alan and 24-year-old grandson Danny . Danny, sweet and distracted, may not have figured out his own life yet, but he has Thelma in his corner as cheerleader and best friend; their relationship is one of the early delights of writer-director Josh Margolin’s debut feature-length film.
“Thelma” doesn’t rest just on the gutsy charms of its lead actress, but on everybody in the show. Roundtree, in the “Shaft” star’s final performance before his death in October 2023, makes Ben a fussy but loyal companion on the bumpy road to retribution, and Posey is marvelously funny as a tightly wound helicopter mom/daughter.
Lastly, what keeps “Thelma” from floating away on a bubble of whimsy is the film’s acknowledgment of the sorrows and struggles that come with old age: the rusty joints, the small daily humiliations, the loneliness above all. At one point in their odyssey, Ben and Thelma drop in on an old friend who’s become fossilized in the amber of early dementia; the sequence ends with one of the best gags in the movie, but the sadness lingers.
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