PRE-GAME 🏈
Welcome back to Balls on Film! 👋🏻
I hope everyone has had a great week. I’d like to thank everyone who has read, shared and commented on the previous two editions of the newsletter - they’ve been two of the most popular since I started this, and I’m really grateful for your support.
With autumn approaching, it got me thinking about seasonal sports movies - Halloween and Christmas, in particular. I’m not sure if there are any movies that are set over either period or contain a particularly spooky or festive vibe, but I’m determined to find them, if they exist. I know that some consider Cool Runnings a Christmas movie, but I’m not sure how much I’d agree. Let me know in the comments if there are any you can think of!
I’d also like to highlight that I’ve started the Balls on Film subscriber chat, which you can access from the main page or via the chat tab at the bottom of the screen in the Substack app. This is a space exclusively for subscribers - kind of like a group chat or live hangout. I’m still messing around with it and trying to figure out exactly how to best incorporate it into the newsletter, but I’ll post any discussion topics or updates there, and you can jump in if you want to. Hope to see you over there! 😊
With that, let’s go to the Super Bowl!
FIRST HALF 🏈
I originally picked 80 For Brady for review because the NFL is back for its 2024 season, and it’s a fairly recent movie that I missed when it was released. Spoiler alert: there’s not actually much sport in it all and way less Tom Brady that you might think, given the title. It’s definitely way more of a buddy movie than a sports movie. After a particularly hectic week, however, it did provide just what I was looking for - a quick, fun and breezy story during which I could just switch my brain off and enjoy. If that’s what you’re also looking for, this might be the film for you. But don’t expect anything beyond that.
The film is loosely based on the true story of four lifelong friends who, despite their age, embark on a once-in-a-lifetime road trip to watch their hero, Tom Brady, play in the Super Bowl.
Lou (Lily Tomlin), who is the sort of unofficial leader of the group, is battling health issues and convinces her friends to make a spontaneous trip to Houston for the game, and to see their hero. There’s Trish (Jane Fonda), a romance novelist who writes NFL-based erotic fan fiction, Maura (Rita Moreno), a recent widow still adjusting to single life, and Betty (Sally Field), a buttoned-up MIT professor with a competitive streak. The friends win tickets through a local radio contest, and embark on the trip. I was expecting a movie that was mostly about the friends getting from point A to B, but 80 For Brady goes in some unexpected directions. The friends crash VIP parties, get into trouble, and at one point there’s a hot wings eating contest with Guy Fieri (yes, really).
It might fall under the ‘Sport’ category on iMDB, but 80 For Brady’s strengths lie in its messages about finding friendship later in life, and also living it to the fullest. Much of the story is wrapped around Lou’s concerns over her own health, and her desire to defy her age and do something completely against societal expectations. Despite some of the film’s more outrageous elements, the joy of watching four legends of the screen play off one another and clearly have a lot of fun, it never strays too far from this emotional core and it’s when the focus comes back to Tomlin’s character, that the story’s more poignant moments take place.
If you’re wondering why I’ve not really mentioned Tom Brady, it’s because he’s not actually in the movie that much. He does appear in the third act, unless you count him appearing in bobble-head form, and it’s all very fun and self-aware when he does show up. Despite the name, it’s not really a movie about him anyway, and his appearance doesn’t overshadow the real story of these four friends.
What I liked most about 80 For Brady was that outside of the more emotional moments, it was simply a lot of fun. It goes in some surprisingly absurd directions at points that I wasn’t expecting. The film throws the characters into a series of ridiculous situations that add a good dose of chaos to the typical friends-on-a-road-trip story. There’s plenty of physical comedy too, and Tomlin, Fonda, Field and Moreno bounce off one another brilliantly. There’s one scene in particular featuring Guy Fieri that’s so silly that it almost feels out of place - and I’m not talking about the aforementioned hot wings contest, but the characters make it work. It also highlights really well, just what it means to be a die-hard fan of something and embrace that fandom to the fullest. There’s a moment early on in the film where we find out how the four friends came to be fans of the sport, and how it’s impacted their lives since. It’s a very sweet touch that will speak to anyone who holds a sports team close to their heart. It celebrates fandom, rather than poke fun at it, and I really appreciated that.
Whilst I loved the idea of these four friends going on a road trip to the Super Bowl, there’s not actually much road-tripping to be found here. The actual trip is omitted and we spend most of the time with the main characters once they’ve actually arrived in Houston. Granted, this is where most of the film’s comedy takes place, but the four actresses are so good together that focusing more on the actual trip may have allowed us to delve a bit deeper into the characters and the personal challenges that each of then are grappling with than we get to. 80 For Brady is at its best when it’s the four actresses bouncing off one another, and I wanted more of it. It ends up being more of a movie about friends attending the Super Bowl than a movie about friends making the trip there. It’s fun, but ultimately feels a bit empty, and perhaps more of a road trip-focused story that allowed all four characters to be fleshed out a little more may have helped alleviate that.
While it’s a perfectly enjoyable and light-hearted comedy, there’s not much to 80 For Brady beyond that. But that’s okay - just don’t go into this expecting anything other than warm, easy-going, predictable fluff set against a sports backdrop. It’s predictable, sure - but it’s always enjoyable, celebrates fandom in a really refreshing way, doesn’t outstay its welcome and the four main characters are all really fun together.
80 For Brady is available to rent/purchase on various digital platforms. It’s also available to stream on NOW TV here in the UK, where I watched it for this review.
HALFTIME 🏈
Let’s take a break for halftime.
Here’s what else I’ve been enjoying this week:
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
As a huge fan of the original, this was an absolute blast. Keaton hasn’t lost a step at all, and everyone was on top form. Lots of fan service, but it never felt overdone. Catherine O’Hara in particular stole the show. I really wanted a Geena Davis cameo, though…
In cinemas now.
Hit Man
I’m a bit late to the party with this one, but I actually enjoyed it! It lost me a bit around the halfway mark before pulling it back at the end. Glen Powell and Adria Arjona are endlessly watchable, and the story actually takes some interesting and unexpected turns that I did not see coming.
Available to stream on Netflix
I was saddened to learn of the passing of the great James Earl Jones this week. One of the all-time legends of cinema, with perhaps the most iconic voice in film history. He was such a big part of some of my all-time favourite movies. I highly recommend this fantastic piece by
, on his career and legacy.
I also recently learned of KANO, a 3 hour movie about a Taiwanese baseball team who take part in a national tournament in Japan in 1931. If the reviews I’ve been seeing online are anything to go by, this seems to be a sports movie masterpiece that has somehow evaded me. I’ve since purchased it on the Apple TV store and will get to it soon. Has anyone else seen this?
As usual, let me know what you’re watching, reading, playing, listening to - anything at all. Let’s get back to our Super Bowl road trip.
SECOND HALF 🏈
Let’s jump into some awards and bonus content.
BEST SCENE 🏆
The poker game scene, for how surreal it all is.
MVP AWARD 🏆
All four of our main cast are equally good, so choosing just one person to give this to is tough, but Rita Moreno made me laugh the most.
BEST LETTERBOXD REVIEW 🏆
IMDB TRIVIA HIGHLIGHT 🏆
Tom Brady not being able to find his jersey during the jersey swap scene is a reference to Brady's jersey actually being stolen after Super Bowl LI. That jersey, along with another one lost after Super Bowl XLIX, was found during a raid by Mexico's federal police and the FBI at the home of La Prensa (Hondurian newspaper) director Mauricio Ortega on March 12, 2017. Ortega resigned two days later for "personal reasons."
BONUS FEATURE 💿
This CBS Sunday Morning feature looks at the real-life friends who inspired the movie.
And there’s some fun B-roll footage here.
POST-GAME 🏈
It only feels right to honour the late, great James Earl Jones and revisit one of my favourite movies of all time next week. Let’s talk Field of Dreams.
I’ll leave you with this, one of my favourite movie speeches ever. Pure magic.
Take care, everyone. ❤️
~James
Sometime last year I put on 80 FOR BRADY and texted my friend "I think I might be depressed, I actually WANT to watch 80 for Brady!" Total lark, it was enjoyable, and it was great to see Sally Fields in top form again. And definitely going to check out Kano now.
Think I’ll recommend this one to my 80-something parents, sounds right up their street. But I’m excited about next week’s Field of Dreams, one of my favourite films too.