Bad Grandmas

There's something strange about this little comedy...

It's not a great story, though there are a couple of twists. When Bobbi (Wall) finds out that she is about to lose her house to her ex-son-in-law, after the death of her daughter, she turns to her friends for help... Unfortunately for him, this quadruple of octogenarians don't mind getting their hands dirty. When Mimi (Henderson) goes to visit him, things get out of control when she pulls a gun... From here on in, events start to spiral out of control. You have a loan shark wanting his money back and is willing to kill for it. A detective who is smarter than he looks and is hot on the heels of the missing ex-son-in-law and the mystery surrounding the disappearance.

The acting isn't too great. Even Henderson and Grier have problems with getting a grip on their characters and at times seem out of odds with the story and the film. It's Wall, Reinhold, and Parrish's characters that shine the most and they are brilliant in their portrayals. It's Parrish's portrayal of the flirtatious Ava that added the most light to this film. As for Eaton who played Virginia, I have to wonder what the point of her character was... it just feels like she was there to make up the numbers. Oh and then there's Batinkoff as Detective Mclemore. I really feel for him as he appears to be a decent actor, but at times his comedic movements are way over the top and unfunny in this type of situation and this style of comedy.

The direction isn't great and even draws on other films for its scenes... take the "Pass The Spliff" scene where we get comedic close-ups of the actresses and actor all partaking in a tote or two. This has been done so many times before that I cannot actually name where I saw it first. There were plenty of times that both tension and suspense could have been added to the film but were totally overlooked. The scene where the Detective knows in his gut that something is fishy with the old galls so decides to check out the house. Instead of adding atmosphere the director decides to play it for laughs... and as I said Batinkoff's comedy walks are not up to the Monty Python excellence. This gives the whole movie a steady pace, which, at times, makes it feel boring. It needed a kick up the arse.

All that said... I found it to be a very enjoyable movie. It's genuinely more enjoyable than the sum of its parts actually appear. On paper, you shouldn't like this film... but it is a nice Sunday Morning easy flick... with murder and dark humour. I laughed out loud and that is the job of this movie... I even felt good at the end... and I may even watch it again...

So I would recommend this to the lovers of gallows humour and good "Bad B-Movies". For some weird reason this worked for me, it may work for you too. Though I will warn you the worst part of this film is the opening titles - they are truly horrendous...and not in a good way.

Funny movie with great performances from Pam Grier and Florence Henderson. It's not Shakespeare but it doesn't pretend to be.. it's a comedy that works ecause f it's spareness and no nonsense sense of humor. Judge Reinhold is good also , in fact I didn't recognize him t first.. This film is as nice diversion for an hour and a half....

Storyline terrible,acting terrible, the whole film is just terrible, i'm being way over generous giving it a 4 rating.Guess i'm in the minority with my ratings but for me this is a total waste of your time watching.

I've never seen seasoned actors in a movie where they seem like they've never acted much before, including Florence Henderson, Judd Herschel, and Pam Grier.

This movie is so goofy that it's almost worth watching just to chuckle for the ridiculous value of it.

The plot is interesting enough though there is really no suspense involved or action to speak of. A pack of grannies figure life in prison is not that long at all and embark on setting things right for a friend. In doing so they set off a chain of events that put them in constant peril.

If's a comedy so there are plenty of goofs and gaffes and obviously the world is never so easily put in neat boxes. The point is to laugh at the absurdity of the situation and life in general. Unlike many dark comedies made lately, you actually root for the good guys in this movie.

There are parts that will give you are really big belly laugh, unfortunately too much time is spent on side plots and wastes of time or this could have been one of those gems that accidentally fall out of Hollywood from time to time. It's funny but too much is just biz as usual in movie making to be epically funny.

Well worth wasting an hour and a half if you have nothing pressing to do or better to watch. You will laugh and be entertained. That's the best most movies can ever say.