By Sandra Hall
THELMA ★★★★
(M) 98 minutes
In 1999, David Lynch made a highly engaging film about a senior citizen who crossed a large chunk of the American Midwest on a motorised lawn mower. Ninety-four-year-old Thelma Post (June Squibb) is made of equally stern stuff. She’s on a quest to recover the money stolen from her by an online scammer careless enough to provide her with a strong lead. All that’s stopping Thelma from trying to chase him down is her lack of a driver’s licence.
Thelma (June Squibb) and her grandson Danny (Fred Hechinger) have a close relationship in Thelma.
But fortunately for her – and us – her old acquaintance Ben (Richard Roundtree) possesses the latest in motorised mobility scooters. What’s more, it’s a two-seater. The only snag is Ben. In a sly joke at the expense of Roundtree and his fame as the first black action hero in the Shaft movies of the 1970s, Ben is too “soft” to agree to the adventure.
The film’s writer-director Josh Margolin based the character of Thelma on his grandmother and has taken great care not to patronise her by making her a figure of fun, a decision that does nothing to diminish the film’s comic potential. Thelma may make some very rash moves, but her wit never fails. Nor does her resourcefulness. She even manages to turn Ben into a willing accomplice, astonished to find himself having a good time.
The key to all this is Squibb’s success in convincing you of the close contact Thelma maintains with her younger self. You can see the girl in her, and her 24-year-old grandson Danny (Fred Hechinger) considers her to be his best friend.
Fred Hechinger, June Squibb, Parker Posey and Clark Gregg in Thelma.
He’s having a crisis of his own. He has no job and few clues as to what he wants to do with his life. His exasperated girlfriend has just broken up with him. And his well-meaning parents are played by Clark Gregg, whose perennial half-smile is no camouflage for the fact his son mystifies him, and Parker Posey. In her long career as a favourite of some of America’s best independent filmmakers, Posey has produced a memorable gallery of neurotics, some more likeable than others, and Danny’s mother, Gail, is a worthy addition to the gang.
Thelma’s journey is not exactly straightforward. It’s full of diversions and digressions and Ben is forced to abandon any thought of being back in time for the premiere of his nursing home’s production of Annie, in which he’s playing Daddy Warbucks.
There’s some slapstick, too. The ending is an inspired example. But Margolin has a deft and tender touch when it comes to the tricky relationship between farce and poignancy. Thelma is guided by her fierce belief that life isn’t worth living unless you give it your all, but occasionally the weight of time’s passing is too much even for her. Yet, she perseveres, as does Ben, and in the course of discovering he’s not so soft after all, she learns she’s not too old to make a new friend.
Thelma is released in cinemas on September 5.
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