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Based on True Stories

Jerry and Marge Go Large

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2022, USA, 96 min. 

Since retiring, Jerry (Bryan Cranston) faces a string of endless days in his small Michigan town. During one, he reads the tiny print of a lottery game. Jerry, a math whiz, is stunned by his calculations. If he buys a certain number of tickets, he’s guaranteed to win and the more he spends, the more he gets. When his wife, Marge (Annette Bening), learns Jerry has been (successfully) testing his theory, she’s all in. “Let’s be stupid,” she says. “We need something for us.” The pair make regular road trips to buy tickets in Massachusetts, first for themselves, and then for seemingly the entire town in what becomes a lucrative investment strategy. But will the success last? What elevates Jerry and Marge Go Large beyond its “did-this-really-happen?” story line are Cranston and Bening’s winning performances as the long-married couple that find their second wind by throwing caution to it. Touching and authentic, the movie (based on a true story) never cheapens its characters or their journey. 

It Ain’t Over

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2023, USA, 99 min.

To many younger Americans, Yogi Berra (1925-2015) wasn’t a Hall of Fame baseball player and a cog in the New York Yankees’ endless dynasty, but a lovable old font of folksy wisdom (“When you get to a fork in the road—take it!”) with a funny name and a teddy-bear physique. In this heartwarming documentary, director Sean Mullin—relying on interviews with the baseball legend’s friends, teammates and family members—examines Berra’s accomplishments as a baseball player and explores his personal life. Berra was a devoted family man who stormed Normandy in World War II. He happily bonded with younger ballplayers in his later years, instead of living in the curdled past. This is the rare sports documentary that hits a personal note, reminding us that a life lies behind every older person we dismiss or thoughtlessly categorize. Berra becomes a proxy for the older relative and neighbor we choose to know in a limited way.

 

Nomadland

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2020, United States, 107 min.

As it does with millions of modern-day people, the promise of a traditional retirement has escaped Fern (Frances McDormand). Faced with the death of her husband and the loss of her entire town due to the Great Recession, Fern takes her battered, converted van where there’s work and a place to park. Her new family becomes a wandering band of older Americans who find security in transience. Director-writer Chloé Zhao tells Fern’s story simply and without any contrivances, allowing us to admire a woman who finds her center by traveling the country. McDormand, who served as a producer, delivers a lived-in, authentic performance that enhances the film’s message of resolve. Though the circumstances surrounding Fern’s lifestyle are sad, her determination to find purpose in her life’s breakdown turns Nomadland into an intriguing paradox, a life-affirming criticism of capitalism’s ceaseless grind. Winner of three Academy Awards—Best Director, Best Picture and Best Actress. Based on Jessica Bruder’s book. 

 

Philomena

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2013, UK, 98 min.

Based on a true story, this is a redemptive tale with none of the sickly sweet aftertaste. Former BBC journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) is desperate for work, so he takes an assignment he considers well beneath his reputation and cultured aspirations: a human-interest story about Philomena Lee (Judi Dench). Philomena is a sweet churchgoer looking to reunite with the infant son she was forced to give up for adoption over 50 years ago. As the story slinks into darker terrain and takes the pair to America, we see that Philomena has wells of emotional strength underneath her perpetual, wide-eyed cheer. Directed with assurance, sympathy and gentle wit by Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons, The Grifters), Philomena shows that resolving the past can be a redemptive act if it’s done with patience and faith.

Woman in Gold

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2015, UK, USA, 109 min.

Woman in Gold is an unabashed crowd pleaser. Like 2013’s Philomena, Woman in Gold is based on a true story involving an older woman resolving her past. But we don’t mind the similarity. The performances here are sturdy and winning; the emotions feel true. Woman in Gold works to win our affections. Read more…

The Road to Galveston

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1996, USA, 93 min.

Based on a true story, this made-for-TV film portrays 65-year-old Jordan Roosevelt (Cicely Tyson), alone, destitute and depressed following the death of her husband. Determined to save her home from foreclosure and live on her own, Jordan defies the wishes of her adult son and embarks on a new career as a caregiver for Alzheimer’s patients. Her home becomes a residence for three patients in various stages of the disease. Despite the demands she faces as a caregiver and the challenges of living with limited financial resources, Jordan perseveres. Her home-care clients also thrive, as best they can, forming friendships with one another that transform them as they struggle to maintain some semblance of control over their lives.

The Wedding Gift

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1994, UK, 87 min.

A BBC original, The Wedding Gift is based on a true story about a woman faced with a terminal illness that defies medical diagnosis. Diana (Julie Walters) and Deric (Jim Broadbent), her devoted husband, have an ideal marriage: they thrive in each other’s company, they’re funny, and they enjoy their two grown children and Deric’s dotty mother. Deric has taken on the round-the-clock responsibilities of caring for Diana, resulting in the near-collapse of his lingerie business. As Diana’s condition worsens, she decides to plan her husband’s future and convinces Deric, an aspiring writer, to attend a writer’s convention. There he meets Aileen Armitage, a blind novelist to whom he is attracted. Deric’s future is set in motion. You will want to note the role of humor in this film and the ways in which characters deal with physical decline, caretaking and the end of life.

Danny Collins

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2015, USA, 106 min.

The winning, therapeutic Danny Collins teaches us something: namely, that the best things in a long life are usually the least glamorous. Al Pacino portrays the title character—an amalgam of Neil Diamond and Rod Stewart—who long ago abandoned creative integrity for pop-star prancing and all of its goodies—such as a much-younger fiancée, who doesn’t love him, and a mansion with an elevator. When Danny’s manager and best friend (Christopher Plummer, in another fine performance) gives him his birthday gift—a letter John Lennon wrote to a young, confused Danny—the star is struck. What if he had gotten that letter four decades ago? Read more…

The World’s Fastest Indian

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2005, New Zealand, 125 min.

Anthony Hopkins stars as New Zealander Burt Munro, who has one item on his bucket list in 1962, at age 63: to race his modified 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle on Utah’s fabled Bonneville Salt Flats. It appears to be an impossible endeavor for Burt, a no-frills retiree who lives in a shed and whose bike is the apotheosis of DIY industriousness, right down to using shoe polish to cover the cracks in the tires. Burt gradually puts it all together. He gets a loan to travel to America. He cheerfully solves myriad problems—a bad heart, for one—on his road trip from California to Utah. Most importantly, he inspires everyone he meets, including his fellow racers. Hopkins delivers an endearing performance that features not one whiff of senior stereotyping, and writer-director Roger Donaldson’s utterly charming biopic is a stirring reminder that the human spirit lacks an expiration date.

The Lady in the Van

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2015, UK, 115 min.

In 1974, an old woman (Maggie Smith) parked her garbage can of a van in an upscale suburban London neighborhood. She stayed there for 15 years. During that time, the infamous Miss Shepherd developed a cantankerous rapport with playwright Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings), who offered his driveway as a residence of sorts. (Writer’s curiosity triumphed over common sense.) Bennett devoted years to piercing this irascible, slovenly woman’s façade, when he was not fighting off his own mounting irritation with her personal hygiene and general irritability. Eventually, Jennings, who wrote a memoir about the whole affair, learned that Miss Shepherd reached this frazzled state through a series of unfortunate events. The Lady in the Van is pretty much a forum for Smith’s fussy talents, and viewers can certainly take pleasure in that. However, its most memorable accomplishment is knocking the wind out of the kooky-old-lady cliché, revealing the real person underneath.