80 For Brady Reviews Are In, See What Critics Are Saying About The Tom Brady-Centric Buddy Comedy

Ultimately, these four women are what save 80 For Brady from itself. For such a mediocre effort, it still manages to come across as watchable and charming because Tomlin, Field, Fonda, and Moreno are all such likable presences. The film is by no means distinctive, hilarious, or memorable in any way, but, for as cloying as this attempt at Brady brand rehabilitation could have been, it’s a testament to the magnetic appeal of ageless stars who know how to carry a film to the end zone.

80 For Brady is undeniably a shiny piece of NFL propaganda, a film so in love with its own money-making apparatus that it’s hard not to find it at least somewhat evil. But the performances land and are often endearing, with all four women in particularly strong form.

80 For Brady was like a weird mushroom trip, and I found myself oddly fascinated by it all. In this jaded age of media saturation, we rarely credit wondering ‘how did they do that?’ as a question that compels us to keep watching anymore. And yet, that question was as consistently on my mind during 80 for Brady as it was during Avatar. Which actors were actually in the room during this scene? Which parts of this were shot on location and which in a makeshift studio six months later? What lines used to be in this scene that someone forgot or flubbed and the director was too polite to ask them to redo them?

80 for Brady may be based on a true story, but it’s presented as pure fantasy: a low-key diversion for these dark and downbeat times. Its four stars are all icons who never stray too far from the personas they’ve created for themselves, though not-yet-80 Field has fun playing a socially awkward, statistics-loving math professor enjoying a bit of time away from her needy husband (Bob Balaban). A vivacious 91, Moreno dances circles around the others, energy-wise — even though the film’s two dance numbers aren’t choreographed or edited to show all that she can do. Fonda’s a hoot as a fan-fiction-writing former ‘Mayflower Girl’ whose beauty-queen background explains the elephant in the room: her work and ‘what it cost to look like this.’

As for the story itself, most of which is not set in the stadium, it’s a variously awkward, sweet and silly amalgam of day-to-day reality, sitcom zaniness and pure worship fantasy — those worshipped being, understandably, its glorious leading ladies. … Directed by Kyle Marvin, an indie producer (The Climb) at the helm of his first film, 80 for Brady lays out all its plays right on the surface, sometimes ploddingly. It’s when Marvin stands back and lets his stars loose that the film finds traction, delighting in their skill at bringing expert devil-in the-details flourishes to the obvious setups.