80 for Brady review – screen queens go wild in charming but slight comedy
Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Sally Field and Lily Tomlin make for soothing company in a silly but good-natured film about NFL fansDuring the Patriots dynasty of 17 division titles across our century’s first two decades, quarterback Tom Brady held a supernatural sway over the mature women of New England. In this ascended townie-jock, a housewife could see someone that while not literally named Sean, nonetheless presented a more handsome, wealthy and successful image of a man like her husband. (The fantasy worked both ways, too; at the time, having Tommy Touchdown meant a lady got to be Gisele Bündchen.) But mostly they loved him for the same reason anybody loves any athlete, which is to say because he’s a winner. When defeat seems all but assured, he’s the guy you want calling the shots, the unstoppable will that once brought come-from-behind victories now enough to make a wide-release audience temporarily forget how much they detest this ball-deflating ring-hoarder.His regular fourth-quart
