An actor earns serious credit when they not only perform incredibly in a role but perform it in a way that makes audiences believe no one else could have possibly played it better. Not to overly gush about a film others have already gushed enough over, but I was oozing with said respect when exiting Grandma. Not only is it a well-written film with a rare and fiercely defined main character, but its title role fits its perfectly casted actor, Lily Tomlin, in perfect symbiosis. Playing this role at this point in her career is perfect timing, and Paul Weitz casting and utilizing her unique talents is an example of the art of directing at its finest. Though comedy might be the safest genre for allowing septuagenarians to shine (though Grandma is more a part of that ambiguous sub-genre of dramedy), it’s films like this that prove there is a trove of older actors who, in addition to the talent they already bring, provide another level of performance that, when given the chance, can absolutely blow us away.

This secret reserve of talent—likely derived straight from life experience—is something Tomlin displays in abundance in Grandma. A taciturn and grieving widow, Tomlin plays Elle Reid, a feminist poet and movement leader, still revered if not much remembered from her glory days. A year and a half has passed since her partner Violet has died from cancer, and her relationship with a much younger woman, Olivia (Judy Greer), is ending and she deals with it with the same cutting rigidity with which she faces all of life’s challenges, telling Olivia she doesn’t love her, and to leave her key on the table. Elle hardly has time to actually process this breakup when her teenaged granddaughter Sage (the curly-haired goddess Julia Garner) shows up on her front door, pregnant and in need of funds for an abortion.

Elle does her due diligence as a grandma—complaining about the price of an abortion these days—and also as a wizened woman, asking Sage if she’s thought through the decision since she’s likely to think of it at some point every day for the rest of her life, but never tries to talk her out of it. Instead, she grabs the keys to her vintage Dodge and agrees to help Sage scare up the $600 she needs by 5:30 that afternoon. As Elle attempts to collect on old debts and the goodwill of friends, more of her varied and complicated life is revealed. Laverne Cox is a tattoo artist buddy who tells of Elle’s kindhearted gift of loaning her money to fix a botched transgender boob-job. Elizabeth Pena is coffee shop owner who puts Elle in her place by offering $50 for some of her old first edition hardbacks, including The Feminine Mystique (and Sage wonders aloud if the book has anything to do with The X-Men). Elle challenges Sage’s sensibilities, teaching her along the way by standing up to her deadbeat boyfriend when Sage won’t (hilariously kicking the teenager’s ass) and making a scene in a coffee shop when the proprietor asks her to quiet down when discussing abortion.

While clearly pro-choice, the film doesn’t especially try to conventionalize or even trivialize abortion but instead bring it into colloquial terms. Sage’s decision is treated with gravity and respect. It’s even given an interesting dual-perspective by another character in the film, who expresses the sadness an abortion once brought them with sincerity and dignity. The crux of the film lies within a scene between Elle and her one-time husband Karl (Sam Elliott, also absolutely shining), he an unfortunate casualty of Elle being gay at a time when no one was discussing such things and thus part of her path of destruction in her youth.  They chit-chat about lovers and grandchildren, roll a doobie together, and then go on to have a fiercely charged and emotionally revealing series of exchanges that perfectly expresses the complexity of real relationships, the many forms of love, and the way our decisions shape us and stay with us as we mature.

Paul Weitz is a wonder in being able to capture saturated morsels of the different humor associated with different age ranges and genders. In American Pie he nailed the adolescent male mind without demeaning it, and here he’s traveled the length of the spectrum (galaxy?) to home in on the perfectly evolved humor of an aging widowed lesbian academic. I’ve certainly never heard anyone insult another by calling them a “writer-in -residence” but the joke is among the sharpest of the film. All involved should certainly remain in the minds of voters when awards season rolls around.

Filled with laughs, realistic love, and a freedom to emote, Grandma is as cathartic as it is hilarious. Even while seeing the pain that comes from a lifetime filled with loss and experience, the wisdom and humor of a lifetime’s experience is given equal merit. It’s enough to make being a grandma look like the coolest job out there, and a reason to look forward to advancing through our years.

A version of this review was originally published as part of our Tribeca 2015 coverage.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with breezy, lighthearted entertainment. In the right hands, a small-scale story populated by sympathetic faces has the capacity to deliver big-time charm. Of course, the issue comes in when an airy aesthetic is all a film has to offer; a quirky lead and thin plot strands substituting for real personality and substance. I Dream Too Much suffers from such faults. Its total lack of energy and tired attempts at fleshing out the skeleton of a familiar tale with half-baked themes of self-empowerment results in a lifeless experience that evaporates as soon as the curtain falls.

Our protagonist is eccentric twenty-something Dora (Eden Brolin). She is the one who “dreams too much.” Pressured by her mother (Christina Rouner) to take the LSAT and become a prosperous lawyer, she languishes in the wintry New Jersey suburbs, obsessively fantasizing about fabulous, far away places and the excitement they’d surely bring. Upon hearing of her Great Aunt Vera’s (Diane Ladd) foot injury, she volunteers to help, only to find a stubborn, tough-to-please diva in an unbearably quiet town. Through dull housework, spontaneous storytelling and martini-drenched evenings, the relationship is hot and cold, but Dora finds an outlet in her frustrated poetic scribblings, romantic daydreams and the laughs shared with a new, like-aged friend (Danielle Brooks). The discovery of Vera’s glamorous past reinvigorates the bond between Great Aunt and Great Niece, and the two begin working together in an effort to get past their personal and poetic muddles.

For a film so lighthearted, it’s surprising that I Dream Too Much is as lifeless as it is. The direction by first-time helmer Katie Cokinos is really what’s to blame. Most scenes have an uncomfortably dead air about them as characters stand around awkwardly listening to each other speak, their fake half-smiles and darting eyes straining for an ounce of guidance. Additionally, there’s an absence of effective blocking to provide some relief from the stagey dialogue (which is frequently derailed by Dora’s trivial squeaky-voiced ramblings).

Cokinos (who also wrote the film) attempts to inject some vitality into the events in different ways, but she is rarely successful. While functioning in part as a drama, it’s the comedy that has the greatest presence, and it hardly ever works. Weak sort-of-punch-lines paired with sub-par acting create what often feels like a cringe-worthy sitcom without the laugh track. What ensues are fruitless games of spot-the-joke.

Also hoping to start a heartbeat of some kind is a series of transitional interludes. These are the only times when the smiley, guitar-strumming soundtrack appears, and while the sequences are probably the movie’s most visually engaging moments, I cannot reconcile the notion that they don’t do anything but establish setting and give the false impression of an emotional landscape taking shape.

Diane Ladd is perhaps the film’s only saving grace. Although she occasionally stoops to slight overacting, her performance is the kind of assured turn that only an experienced vet like herself could give. Ladd’s comedic timing is great and she fully sells the character of this sardonic, swaggering old woman harboring hidden insecurities.

Unfortunately, a single solid performance is not capable of elevating the film beyond its larger problems. As previously stated, I Dream Too Much is excessively light, but not in a purely stylistic sense. It busies itself with several plot elements and fails to give the proper attention to any of them. One conveniently presented subplot deals with a famous local music producer (James McCaffrey) and another has to do with Vera’s old journals. Meanwhile, Dora’s 19^th century gothic novel-inspired daydreams come and go with little impact and a dramatic device regarding her dead father lingers in the background. Each of these components is shallowly addressed and whatever conflict arises is generally resolved with improbable rapidity. Voice-over narration and cutaways to Dora’s handwritten couplets struggle to express complex coming-of-age dilemmas and when a film can’t even engage you on a conceptual level, let alone a story level, the only thing that resonates by the end is a feeling of emptiness.

I hate to rag on a film of such innocent intentions, but I Dream Too Much forces my hand. It ventures to evoke a few laughs while telling a story about taking responsibility and living on your own terms. These are noble messages to send, for sure, but oblivious direction and careless writing ruins it. Like its main character, film has its head firmly stuck in the clouds. Do yourself a favor and remain earthbound on this one.

The name of the film comes from when Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) finds out his odds of survival are 50/50 after finding out he has spinal cancer. The film was written by Will Reiser, who was actually diagnosed with spinal cancer in real life, which is what undoubtedly helped it feel so genuine. The focus of the film is to show how cancer can affect more than just the person with it but also the people around them. It does that surprisingly well.

Adam is not risk taker, when the crosswalk blinks do not walk, he stays put, even when no vehicles are to be seen. The 27 year old does not drive because it is the 5th leading cause of death. So it is ironic when after going to the doctor for some minor back symptoms, Adam is diagnosed with a rare form of spinal cancer, rendering his chances of death 50/50.

Adam gets along with his girlfriend well enough but at the same time you can tell that something is missing from that relationship. He does not realize it at first. It is brought to his attention when two fellow treatment patients question the fact she will not even step inside the hospital. However, it becomes even more evident when she does not answer her phone and shows up an hour late for picking him up.

If it were up to his best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen), Adam would be using his cancer to his advantage for picking up new girls. In fact, Kyle picks up someone at a bookstore by telling her that he is taking care of his dying friend. On their date, Kyle sees Adam’s girlfriend kissing another guy and even snapped a picture on his phone for proof. At the end of the date, Kyle rushes to Adam’s to show him the picture. Needless to say, their relationship came to an end.

Even though Kyle’s repeated attempts to set Adam up with girls have failed, he ends up meeting someone on his own. Turns out it is his 24 year old student therapist that is helping him through treatment. Since he recently broke up with his girlfriend, she offers him a ride home and will not take no for an answer. The first thing he notices about her car is that it is very messy which she insists on him not to judge her for it. The slightly odd scene turns cute when he demands her to pull over so that he can throw away her trash in the car that he could not stand any longer.

Just as things are starting to look up for Adam, one of the patients he got close to passed away. That served as a harsh reminder to him that he may die at any moment. Adam takes his frustrations out on everyone around him; his therapist, Kyle and even his Mom. Up until now he has taken the cancer news fairly lightly so it was only a matter of time until the frustrations settled in.

Not many actors today can make me laugh out loud as much as Seth Rogen does. In most of his films I find myself laughing even when I am watching it by myself (which is the ultimate test), this film was no exception. He did a great job at not dominating the film too much as the supporting actor. Granted, he did play his usual role in the film.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance felt effortless and brilliant. The awkward romantic scenes between Anna Kendrick and him were outstanding. Most of the film he plays it cool but he shows his range of emotions by the end, particularly well in one “freak out” scene. His career is really starting to take off after recently doing, (500) Days of Summer, Inception and now currently working on Christopher Nolan’s long awaited The Dark Knight Rises.

After watching the trailer for 50/50 when it first came out, I jokingly said it had a 50/50 shot at being good. That depended on which way director Jonathan Levine approached the film. Luckily, he balanced the right amount of comedy and drama together in a very realistic manner without all the pitfalls of a stereotypical dramedy. The situations that Adam gets into seem to all be completely natural, it did not suffer from a cheesy movie-like moment. I was kind of hoping “Banana Pancakes” by Jack Johnson played for the final scene instead of Pearl Jam’s “Yellow Ledbetter”, if you saw the film you know why.