Bad Grandmas
2017
The Cast
There's something strange about this little comedy...
It's not a great story, though there are a couple of twists. When Bobbi (Wall) finds out that she is about to lose her house to her ex-son-in-law, after the death of her daughter, she turns to her friends for help... Unfortunately for him, this quadruple of octogenarians don't mind getting their hands dirty. When Mimi (Henderson) goes to visit him, things get out of control when she pulls a gun... From here on in, events start to spiral out of control. You have a loan shark wanting his money back and is willing to kill for it. A detective who is smarter than he looks and is hot on the heels of the missing ex-son-in-law and the mystery surrounding the disappearance.
The acting isn't too great. Even Henderson and Grier have problems with getting a grip on their characters and at times seem out of odds with the story and the film. It's Wall, Reinhold, and Parrish's characters that shine the most and they are brilliant in their portrayals. It's Parrish's portrayal of the flirtatious Ava that added the most light to this film. As for Eaton who played Virginia, I have to wonder what the point of her character was... it just feels like she was there to make up the numbers. Oh and then there's Batinkoff as Detective Mclemore. I really feel for him as he appears to be a decent actor, but at times his comedic movements are way over the top and unfunny in this type of situation and this style of comedy.
The direction isn't great and even draws on other films for its scenes... take the "Pass The Spliff" scene where we get comedic close-ups of the actresses and actor all partaking in a tote or two. This has been done so many times before that I cannot actually name where I saw it first. There were plenty of times that both tension and suspense could have been added to the film but were totally overlooked. The scene where the Detective knows in his gut that something is fishy with the old galls so decides to check out the house. Instead of adding atmosphere the director decides to play it for laughs... and as I said Batinkoff's comedy walks are not up to the Monty Python excellence. This gives the whole movie a steady pace, which, at times, makes it feel boring. It needed a kick up the arse.
All that said... I found it to be a very enjoyable movie. It's genuinely more enjoyable than the sum of its parts actually appear. On paper, you shouldn't like this film... but it is a nice Sunday Morning easy flick... with murder and dark humour. I laughed out loud and that is the job of this movie... I even felt good at the end... and I may even watch it again...
So I would recommend this to the lovers of gallows humour and good "Bad B-Movies". For some weird reason this worked for me, it may work for you too. Though I will warn you the worst part of this film is the opening titles - they are truly horrendous...and not in a good way.
I give this a Darkly Mischievous Murder of 5.5 out of 10.
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