Thelma stars 93-year-old June Squibb (Oscar-nominated for Nebraska) in an action picture. Squibb plays a scammed senior who goes on a quest to recover her money from the scammers. To accomplish that, she’s got to go on the run from her frantic family, bust her friend (Richard Roundtree) out of his rest home and master some 21st century technology.
Thelma is much more than a geezer comedy, and has something to say about every generation. She has a very sweet relationship with her grandson (Fred Hechinger), who may not find himself by age thirty, much to his self-loathing and the angst of his parents (Parker Posey and Clark Gregg). Those parents have found them in the sandwich generation, leading very busy lives, from which they are sometimes distracted to worry about their elderly parents and their floundering offspring. Thelma herself is one tough cookie, who lives independently and knows how to ask for help, unless she happens to be too proud or too embarrassed.
June Squibb is wonderful as Thelma. This was the final performance of Richard Roundtree (Shaft), and it’s a very sweet one. Hechinger is very, very good. Even a small dose of Parker Posey is delightful. There’s even a cameo by Malcom McDowell, 53 years after A Clockwork Orange.
Writer-director Josh Margolin was inspired by an incident in his own family.
I screened Thelma for the SFFILM; it was the closing night film of both the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival and SFFILM. It’s an absolute hoot, and it opens in theaters this weekend.