Movie Review

Lovable movie Thelma shows perils of old people using technology

Richard Roundtree and June Squibb in Thelma.

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Anyone with older parents or grandparents in the 21st century has almost certainly gone through the ~~frustrating~~ experience of trying to teach or explain new technology to them. The technological divide is real, and only seems to get worse with each passing year. The new film Thelma hilariously takes on that scenario with a story that’s alternately sweet and exciting.

As the film begins, the 93-year-old Thelma (June Squibb) is having her grandson Danny (Fred Hechinger) help her scroll through her e-mail box to find a video of her late husband. Although Thelma is still with it mentally, the challenges of technology are a bit beyond her skillset. This becomes even more apparent when a person purporting to be Danny calls and tells her he’s in jail, and needs $10,000 to get out. She immediately sends the cash, only to soon discover that she’s been scammed.

With the police unable to help her in any real way, and her family — Danny, daughter Gail (Parker Posey), and son-in-law Alan (Clark Gregg) — concerned more with her cognitive ability than her money, Thelma ropes in her friend Ben (Richard Roundtree) and his motorized scooter to track down the scammers on the other side of town. The ensuing pursuit is simultaneously the slowest one ever recorded on film and relatively thrilling.

Writer/director Josh Margolin, who was inspired to make the film by his own grandmother (stay for the credits for a sweet scene of the real Thelma), has a deft touch with the slight-yet-fulfilling story. Plenty of fun is made of Thelma’s physical limitations and her difficulty grasping knowledge about computers, but it’s done in a respectful way that never mocks her for what she can’t do. The humor comes from not just her technological issues, but also Danny patiently guiding her through increasingly fraught scenarios.

The character of Thelma is set up as one who’s almost impossible not to like, starting with the delightful bond she shares with Danny. She’s very strong-willed, something that Gail, Alan, and Ben see up close, but she’s also so charming that none of them can stay mad at her for long. One of the film’s funniest throughlines is her asking multiple people if she knows them, a sign of an aging mind that turns into a crucial plot point in the final act.

What’s especially remarkable is that Margolin manages to maintain a light mood even through the film’s heavier moments. Thelma and Ben stop at the house of their friend Mona (Bunny Levine), who lives alone despite clearly being in the depths of dementia. Margolin somehow plays the scene both for laughs and heartbreak, a threading of the needle he does on multiple occasions to keep the story humming.

The 95-year-old Squibb, who’s experienced one of the busiest times in her career after being nominated for an Oscar for 2013’s Nebraska, is a joy to watch in every frame of the film she occupies. She’s the epitome of the kindly grandmother, but the spirit she displays makes her determined character highly believable. The presence of Posey, Gregg, and Hechinger elevates the relatively small number of scenes they’re in, and Roundtree is showcased in a great way in what would turn out to be his final film role.

There have been a number of movies pairing old actors and trying to mine their ages for laughs in recent years, but none of them have the wit and charm that Thelma does. Margolin turned his love for his grandmother into a film that honors her, and also gives Squibb, Roundtree, and others the opportunity to show that age is just a number when it comes to their ability to entertain the masses.

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Thelma is now playing in theaters.

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Movie Review

Highly anticipated Wicked movie adaptation deserves to be popular

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera in Wicked.

The musical Wicked is indisputably the biggest Broadway smash of the 21st century, having grossed more $1.6 billion in New York alone and achieving the rare feat of running for over 20 years. All of which is to say that the long-awaited movie adaptation of The Wizard of Oz prequel will most likely be a massive success whether it lives up to what longtime fans envisioned or not.

Part one — yes, this 2 hour and 40 minute film is merely the first act of the musical; part two arrives a year from now — introduces Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the green-skinned witch who goes on to become Dorothy’s nemesis, and G(a)linda (Ariana Grande-Butera), the pink-garbed “good” witch, as they meet at Shiz University in Oz. Glinda is the ultra-popular one with sycophantic hangers-on, while Elphaba is shunned by almost everyone, sometimes including her disabled sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), who’s desperate to make her own space away from Elphaba.

Her mistreatment by others leads Elphaba to get angry, which manifests itself in uncontrollable magic. Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) notices this and takes a personal interest in her, giving her one-on-one instruction in hopes of harnessing her power. In the meantime, Elphaba and Glinda attempt to go from forced roommates to actual friends, although Glinda’s entitled personality is more of an obstacle than anything else they encounter.

Directed by Jon M. Chu and written by original book writer Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, the film does a great job of distinguishing itself from the stage version while still remaining true to what made it so beloved. As Chu showed in his last film, In the Heights, he has an innate feel for how to tap into the essence of the source material while expanding it into something befitting the scope of a blockbuster movie.

In this case, he finds a way to give even greater emphasis to the bigotry that Elphaba faces simply because of her green skin; the fact that she is being played by a Black woman drives home the point even more. The story remains light and fluffy for the most part, but the ostracization/otherness that Elphaba feels is delivered in a powerful way, as is her empathy for talking animals like Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage), who are facing their own persecution.

Of course, the highlight of the film is Stephen Schwartz’s music, and while not all of the songs are equal in impact, they still make for a cohesive whole. The number of songs and order they appear in the first act is identical to the stage musical, with the standouts remaining “The Wizard and I,” “Popular,” and “Defying Gravity.” While there is some superfluous action and cutaways added to certain numbers, it’s not enough to distract from what makes the songs effective.

Oddly, the progression of the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda works better on stage when the timeline is accelerated, but Erivo and Grande-Butera make up for this slight lack with their fantastic performances. The emotion each brings to their characters fits them almost perfectly, and there’s simply no denying the strength of each of their voices. Bode, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, and more make for a solid supporting cast.

The well-known ending of the first act of Wicked is a huge high point that is so good that it almost makes up for the fact that audiences won’t see the second film for a long time. But if part one is any indication, part two should turn out to be another great musical theater adaptation in a decade that has already seen its fair share.

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Wicked opens in theaters on November 22.

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