by DEDHAM, Mass. — “80 for Brady” hits theaters Friday, featuring four best friends Lou (Lily Tomlin), Trish (Jane Fonda), Betty (Sally Field) and Maura (Rita Moreno) who head to Houston to see quarterback Tom. taking. Brady and the New England Patriots play in the 2017 Super Bowl.
And here in Dedham, Mass., during early screenings from the team’s home ground, about 10 miles from Gillette Stadium, fans dressed in Patriots taunts to Brady, wide receiver Julian Edelman, and the other stars of that year’s championship game as if they were them. as they chanted. i see it for the first time.
Katie Callahan, 41, of Westwood, Mass., was there when she made an outstanding fourth-quarter comeback against the Atlanta Falcons after the Patriots were down 28-3 — “It was crazy,” she recalled. “The stadium was quiet” He was happy to relive that throughout the movie as part of a girls’ night out with his friends Phyllis Musto, Sheila Matthews and Brenda Bruno.
Musto vividly recalled watching that 2017 play and engaging in some of the same superstitious acts in the movie, such as the intricate ritual Lou recreates to bring luck to the Pats. That he didn’t let anyone move, especially when the match went to sudden death into overtime.
From left, Rita Moreno, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Sally Field in “80 For Brady.”
(Paramount Pictures)
Mary Ellen Horgan, 85, also from Westwood, came to the movie with her 80-year-old friend, Susan Hurley. “I’ve always been a football and Patriots fan and enjoyed everything about it. For years! I’m not talking about recent. This is my lifetime passion. Going to football games and watching them on TV,” Horgan said.
But most attendees focused more on the film’s real appeal than Brady, who retired for the second time this week after working with the post-Patriots Tampa Bay Buccaneers: the beloved quartet of lead women.
“The movie dispels some of the myths about ‘Oh you old ladies,'” said Edith Siegel Wolfson of Natick, Mass. “76-year-old Sally Field is a baby. There are few movies where women are the real stars of the movie and women of a certain age. These women are still incredibly dynamic in every way. These four women are some of our greatest actresses and still have it.”
Siegel Wolfson, in his 60s (“Age is a number and mine’s not on the list,” he laughs), showed up to preview the film with two friends Cindy Adams and Michelle Papazian as part of his birthday celebration. “We’ve all been through some things this year,” Adams said. “And here we are together. For Brady, our three ’60s’ are about doing fun things together and making it a priority. Living and living in the present is intentional fun.
Papazian, who organized the trip, described Siegel Wolfson and Adams as “soul brothers”. “They taught me how to appreciate football, sports and Tom Brady. What really appealed to me in the movie was the support of the women and the lasting relationships over time. The further you go, the more people you don’t have that past. We’ve been friends for over 30 years.”
The friendships described in the film also echoed in Horgan. Even after some of her 55+ community have moved, she and Hurley continue to FaceTime them regularly, for example: “They miss that group. They just want to know what’s going on. It’s just women getting together, enjoying each other’s company. Everyone is always trying to connect. it works.”
From left, Cindy Adams, Michelle Papazian, and Edith Siegel Wolfson sit at Siegel Wolfson’s home for a portrait.
(Sophie Park / The Times)
Director Kyle Marvin said he tried to bring the real-life harmony of the four stars into the movie. “It’s rare to see four women on screen having a good time and having those grown-up honest conversations with each other that historically might not have been as valued as they should have been.”
Hurley, who likes the fact that his age is in the title, appreciated the film’s focus on the current age lives of the four main characters. “Not much to remember, just current, which is good. They are living their life. How many movies do they make about 80-year-old women?
According to Marvin, this was intentional. “We all live older. “Being in your 80s and just being around to do what you want is something new,” he said. “People that age I know normally talk about life, not death or the past. … The beauty of what we’re trying to say in this movie is that it’s a fun time to be alive in your life. It’s not ‘it was fun a long time ago’.”
Two scenes in particular impressed moviegoers in Dedham. In one, Betty tells her professor husband (Bob Balaban) that she won’t quit her job to help her write an article. But there will be no big fight between the couple, just an honest conversation. “I was saying, ‘I love you, but my friendship with these women is something that really keeps me going, and I’m not going to sacrifice that,'” Siegel Wolfson said. “There’s something important in female friendship so that you stay the same person you are in all of your life’s other changes.”
Cindy Adams celebrates in front of a Tom Brady poster.
(Sophie Park / The Times)
Marvin said he and Field worked closely on that scene. “It was really Sally. He had a very good measure of real relationships. Sometimes you forget and get stuck. ‘Why am I your support? It doesn’t mean I don’t love you. I just need some of my own.’”
The other comes when Tomlin’s character, Lou, tells Brady, the film’s producer, about his battle with cancer and how it inspired him through his worst moments. “If you fight, I will fight too,” she tells him. Brady’s mother, Galynn Brady, was undergoing cancer treatment during the 2016-17 season, and the only game she was able to attend was the Super Bowl; Real footage of her hugging her son is in the movie. The movie ends with Lou and Brady having an intimate moment in the dressing room.
“My eyes filled with tears at the end while Lily Tomlin was talking to her. That was really special,” said Siegel Wolfson.
“That was pretty realistic,” Adams agreed. “I choked because he seemed to be thinking about his mother.”
“He was 100% talking to his mother,” Matthews said.
But for Brady, a fun, heartwarming time at the movies with friends for these ladies is just the beginning. For example, Adams wants the movie to be shown on the big screen on the Patriots’ grounds.
“Wouldn’t it be great? I’m telling you, put that in the article!” said. “The three of us want to go to Gillette Stadium.”
