Gee, I sure wish Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda would do something together; they seem like such fun as a team. [Brief pause for a massive eyeroll] For those not getting the joke, “Grace and Frankie” is now in tis 7th season, and earlier this year, the two starred in 80 for Brady. I almost feel like Hollywood has rounded up all the fogies (fōgsters?) and ordered them to play with each other under fear of death.
To be fair – directors
no longer casting a former leading lady is the equivalent of death. So I guess we should be happy these women are still entertaining and employable. Yay, lack-of-dementia.
Speaking of death, Moving On is about Claire and Evelyn (Fonda, Tomlin) plotting murder. Seriously, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin plotting murder. I did a double take when the plot first presented itself. I immediately started looking for Dolly Parton and Dabney Coleman. I’ve seen this movie. It was fun in 1980. The target this time around is Howard (Malcolm McDowell), a recent widower. Claire and Evelyn were college friends of his wife; with her no longer around, they see no impediment to payback.
Murder isn’t funny. Well, not here at least. And the film really, really wants it to be. Neither is the given motive for Murder One in the film. This is a comedy? Are you sure? The impetus is Claire, who was the direct victim; Evelyn just likes stirring the pot. It doesn’t really matter; this material is a mistake. I like that Fonda and Tomlin are still active actors; I like that the plot went beyond TV drivel. But this material is not handled well. A comedy should have some laughs. I counted only one: the potential murder weapon (a flare gun), and while it wasn’t terribly funny as it played on screen, I kinda want to see the Moving On version of the board game Clue; that could be fun.
The shame of Moving On is that it tackles two huge -and potentially controversial- topics: acceptance of trans behavior in pre-adults and the lingering effects of rape. What’s more is I didn’t think it necessarily mishandled either topic. Sure, I’d hope that 50 years later a rape victim could finally find peace, but what if they don’t? Is that really so far-fetched? I don’t think so. As for the former, well, what if you find a teen you identify as a boy who wants to wear dresses and heels and jewelry? Is it correct to discourage this behavior? I don’t think so and neither did the movie.
I also love that Moving On coupled Richard Roundtree and Jane Fonda. Shaft and Klute both came out in 1971, but this pairing would have seemed outrageous at the time. It’s difficult not to see 
that progress enough has been made that the outrageous of 1971 seems barely a ripple in 2022. That being said, however, this is a comic movie. If you have a sex scene with Richard Roundtree in a comedy in 2022 and fail to play the theme song from Shaft in the background, you have failed as a movie maker. Failed.
While I’m never going to root for this film, nor tell you it is a must see, I did like these moments .. and I generally like the idea of Malcolm McDowell getting his long comeuppance for the evil he committed at the start of A Clockwork Orange. [No, I do not -for one single second- believe he got what was coming to him in that film.] However, I cannot help thinking that in a film set in 2023, I’ve now mentioned three from 1971, all of which are far better watches than this drivel.
Two elderly women at a wake
Plan a murder, for heaven’s sake
The widower, that slime
Never got his in time
You’re never too old to “correct a mistake”
Rated R, 85 Minutes
Director: Paul Weitz
Writer: Paul Weitz
Genre: Tacky movies for seniors
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Do know how to use a rotary phone?
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who don’t find the humor in murder
