MOVING ON
Starring: Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Malcolm McDowell, Richard Roundtree, Sarah Burns, Marcel Nahapetian
Director: Paul Weitz
NICK
Although I haven’t seen Grace and Frankie, I knew of the chemistry between Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin going into Moving On. As delightful as they are together, it’s the stories within the stories where the film really thrives. There are tales of revenge, tales of love, and tales of loss; sometimes they even intersect. It tackles some sensitive subject matter at times, but always makes a point to handle it in a delicate manner. Moving On is one part Grumpy Old Men and one part 9 to 5, and while it may not be revolutionary, they hired the right women for the job.
JACOB
Moving On is what you get when you have several themes in a script but try to put them all together without prioritizing what story you’re telling. That phrasing may sound harsher than I ultimately am on the film, but it is by far its biggest problem. Luckily, that problem doesn’t totally sink this surprisingly decent time, even if Jane Fonda’s character is far less engaging than Lily Tomlin’s, who is the real star here. It’s her scenes that keep the film afloat with ace comic timing and one thoroughly underexplored subplot.
This film was reviewed by Nick as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.