by Foster Harlfinger, Contributing Writer
93-year old Thelma Post (June Squibb) gets a frantic phone call from her grandson, Daniel (Fred Hechinger). He has just been arrested for an altercation involving a pregnant woman and a possible car collision… It’s all quite confusing, except for the very simple fact that Thelma must deliver $10,000 cash to her nearest post office if she wants her grandson to stay out of prison.
What the audience realizes long before Thelma is that this whole operation is, of course, a scam. The garbled phone call she received was not her grandson, who was sound asleep the whole time. Frustrated and embarrassed, Thelma sets herself on a mission: She will find the scammers who victimized her, and she will get her money back — Mission: Impossible style.
Thelma is the June Squibb show through and through. Despite her storied career working with the likes of Martin Scorsese, Todd Haynes, and Alexander Payne, this is Squibb’s first ever leading role on film. Her ability to channel grandparent stereotypes (for lack of a better phrase) without feeling cheap remains endlessly charming, but don’t let her impossibly winsome on-screen persona distract you from her pitch-perfect comedic timing.
Even when the plot falls into cliché now and again, Thelma’s relationship with her irresponsible but endlessly earnest grandson acts as the emotional centerpiece of the film. Hechinger’s performance, in spite of (or perhaps because of) his manic theater kid energy, acts as a perfect generational counterpart to Squibb’s go-with-the-flow portrayal of Thelma. They are the perfect match for one another, standing on either side of Parker Posey and Clark Gregg’s performances as Daniel’s hyper-concerned parents. Posey and Gregg, along with the final performance of Richard Roundtree as Thelma’s loyal friend, Ben, round out the film’s warm hug of an ensemble cast.
As much an indictment of scam artists as it is director Josh Marolin’s love letter to his own grandmother, he deserves much credit for his ability to make a film starring an older lead with such wide-ranging appeal. This feels especially significant when the already dwindling landscape of films starring older actors feels almost offensively targeted towards people aged 70 and above. Gratefully, Thelma is the rare film you can recommend to all your friends and family, no matter the age.
Rating: High Side of Liked It
Thelma is currently playing in theaters
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