THELMA (no distrib): In recent years, we’ve seen the rise of what might uncharitably be called Old Lady Cinema, noisy comedies like the Book Club franchise and 80 For Brady that milk gags out of the spectacle of actresses of a certain age talking about (and even engaging in) sex and some light drug use. On its face, Josh Margolin’s Thelma sounds like it might be another wearying example of the subgenre, but in fact it’s a small gem, both more fantastic and more grounded than the norm. Thelma is an extrapolation from something that happened to Margolin’s actual grandmother (also named Thelma), played in fictional form by 93-year old June Squibb in the first lead role of her estimable career. In real life, Margolin’s grandmother was almost scammed out of her savings by a con man; in Thelma, her avatar is indeed bilked, but she’s not going gentle into this particular good night. Instead, she sets out on a quest through the San Fernando Valley to track down the villain and her money, armed with a motorized tandem wheelchair and a sidekick (the late Richard Roundtree, splendid), while ducking her worried family (daughter Parker Posey, son-in-law Clark Gregg, and loving grandson Fred Hechinger, stand-in for the filmmaker himself). Margolin structures Thelma’s adventure as a knowing parody of action franchises, especially Mission: Impossible (Tom Cruise even consented to the use of a few clips), and he successfully finds a tone that acknowledges the silliness while also celebrating Thelma’s bravery and ingenuity, and recognizing that these characters may be nearing their final escapade. The whole cast is great, but Squibb is especially glorious, never pandering to her character and seizing this late moment in her career much as Thelma takes hold of her mission. Thelma overdelivers on all counts: it’s touching, funny and even exciting.
ROB PEACE (no distrib): Chiwetel Ejiofor’s second feature as a writer/director tells a true story that begins as inspirational and turns dark. Rob Peace (played as an adult by Jay Will) grew up in the Oranges section of New Jersey, raised for the most part by his mother Jackie (Mary J Blige) after she divorced his father Skeet (Ejiofor). Skeet is a loving dad, but unreliable and then worse, as he’s arrested and convicted of murders that he swears he didn’t commit. Rob has all the pressures of growing up Black and poor in a tough neighborhood, along with his passionate belief in his father’s innocence. But he’s also a brilliant math and science student, and he wins a scholarship to Yale, and plans a life devoted to medical research. Rob Peace is concerned with the young man’s struggle to further his education and live a worthy life while also balancing the demands of his father and his old friends. Ejiofor’s film is well-acted and handsome, but it suffers from being based on the menoir by Peace’s best friend and produced in cooperation with Peace’s family–even as it depicts some of the dangerous things Peace did, it leans heavily on the side of his justifications. Ultimately, Ejiofor chooses to tell a complex story in a relatively simple way, and Rob Peace is more competent narrative than art.
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