The Reel Review
When 93-year-old Thelma gets bilked out of $10,000 in a telephone scam, she sets out on a Mission Impossible-inspired quest across Los Angeles to get back her money. June Squibb, Richard Roundtree and Parker Posey star in this action comedy inspired by writer/director Josh Margolin’s similar experience with his own grandmother.
Thelma pokes fun at the indignities of aging – the deaths of most of her friends, the loneliness, the looming threat of being taken advantage of, and the fear of losing independence – without ever becoming pandering. Squibb’s scenes with Roundtree, Thelma’s friend with a scooter (she doesn’t drive) are genuinely funny and heartfelt, as Thelma turns out to be a pretty crafty and resourceful sleuth, at one point even MacGyver-ing their hearing aids. Parker Posey and Clark Gregg (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) are more sitcom cartoonish as Thelma’s daughter and son-in-law who infantilize both Thelma and their own Gen Z, slacker son, played by a charming Fred Hechinger. The adult grandson/grandma chemistry is both sweet and realistic. (Tech support!)
The trip down memory lane portion of the film from the improv comedy performer/director draws comparisons to the better done 2015 comedy Grandma, starring Lily Tomlin and Julia Garner. Thelma‘s pacing is at times a bit slow, but, even so, with June Squibb (Nebraska, Palmer) doing her own stunts in her first leading role at the age of 94, Thelma is still a fun and charming enough watch in its own right. Margolin’s cinematic love letter to his grandmother is also a fitting acting farewell for Roundtree.
REEL FACTS
• Thelma was Richard Roundtree’s final film. The star of the 1970s TV series Shaft died of pancreatic cancer in October 2023 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 81.
• Thelma’s apartment in the movie is the actual condo lived in by the very engaging, real Thelma Post, who is still alive at the age of 103. She appears in the closing credits.
• Fred Hechinger, who plays Thelma’s grandson in the movie, will appear as Emperor Caracalla in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, which hits theaters in November 2024.
Video & Photo
