The "friends on a rowdy road trip" comedy is a terrific subgenre that frankly isn’t as well populated as it should be. We’re always happy to see a new one, and yet, we’re still trying to get our heads around 80 FOR BRADY. The combination of concept — old friends head to the Super Bowl to see their favorite player — and the cast, which is dominated by a quartet of absolute luminaries. We’re talking about Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Lily Tomlin, and Rita Moreno.
With some surprising talent behind the camera, and a couple of notable guest stars, 80 FOR BRADY has quite a few elements that make it worth a look even if you're not entirely sold on the concept. Have a look at the trailer, which features a couple of meme or the images and learn everything there is to know about the movie so far.
Watch the 80 For Brady Trailer
In movies like GIRLS TRIP and BAD MOMS we've seen the ensemble buddy comedy thrive, and in some ways 80 FOR BRADY is a natural continuation of those ideas. The football angle is somewhat surprising, but as an excuse to put these characters on the road together, it's not really too far out there.
Yes, That's Guy Fieri, And Guy Fieri, And…
OK, even taking the concept and cast in stride, we did not expect to see a sort of EYES WIDE SHUT masquerade reference much less a hallucination of several incarnations of celebrity bar food connoisseur and all-around good dude Guy Fieri. It's nice to see Billy Porter, too! While Fieri's appearance is probably an extended cameo, we hope that Porter has a substantial supporting role.
The 80 For Brady Cast
Setting aside Guy Fieri and the obvious appearance of quarterback Tom Brady, who also produces, the main cast of 80 FOR BRADY is remarkable.
Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin have been friends for more than 40 years, thanks in large part to their work together (with Dolly Parton) on the 1980 movie 9 TO 5, which Fonda developed as a producer before her co-stars came on board. More recently, the Fonda/Tomlin duo did seven seasons of the Netflix series "Grace & Frankie." Seven seasons! That's a remarkable run for a show based at a company that is famous for cancelling shows after two or three seasons.
Add Sally Field and Rita Moreno, neither of whom, amazingly, has done a movie with Fonda or Tomlin in the past! It's particularly great to see Moreno in this cast as a follow-up to the stage of her career that began with the new WEST SIDE STORY.
From the Writers of Booksmart
There's a caper-comedy pedigree behind 80 FOR BRADY courtesy of writers Sarah Haskins and Emily Halpern, who previously wrote the movie BOOKSMART. Their script is directed by Kyle Marvin, who is best known for acting in the WeWork series "WeCrashed," and for writing, producing and starring in THE CLIMB.
One complicating factor in the creation of 80 FOR BRADY is the fact that, when the movie went into production, Tom Brady was retiring from football. That changed while the team was filming, and Marvin said at the time, "it's certainly news to us, so we had to adapt. It's insane, and yet we are still filming… But it's only going to make the film we are making more interesting to be honest."
80 FOR BRADY opens on February 3.
All images courtesy of Paramount Pictures .