Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin play a pair of old friends in Moving On preparing to murder their third best friend’s husband following her death. It’s a comedy, by the way.
If there was ever a duo readymade to murder a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot, it would be Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. (If I had to add a third to the mix, it would be Dolly Parton, but I digress.) The 9 to 5 co-stars—who have been friends for decades, helmed Netflix’s Emmy-nominated sitcom Grace and Frankie, and faced off against Megyn Kelly regarding plastic surgery—are back together on the big screen in Moving On. The comedy, which premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival last week, reunites director Paul Weitz with Tomlin, who received a Golden Globe nom for Grandma
The movie follows Claire (Fonda) and Evvie (Tomlin), two parts of a trio of estranged college besties who reunite at the funeral of their third BFF, Joyce. Of course things immediately take a turn for the worse when Claire informs Joyce’s grieving husband Howard (Malcolm McDowell) that she has come to do more than mourn–she has come to murder him (DUN DUN DUN). When Evvie arrives (stumbling onto the stage from behind a curtain halfway through the eulogy), she agrees to assist Claire on her homicidal mission.
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From the initial premise (“two old brawds try to whack their bestie’s evil hubby”), a whole slew of Grace and Frankie-esque hijinks follow.
They try to buy a gun. When that doesn’t work, they try to nab one from a semi-senile resident in Evvie’s assisted living facility. Claire accosts Howard about the reasons she has for murdering him. Evvie interrupts the wake to unveil a few secrets about Joyce’s life that the family has tried to forget. And with every tender moment, such as Claire reconnecting with her ex-husband Ralph (Richard Roundtree), there are ridiculous ones like Evvie, whose driver’s license has been revoked, causing mass havoc via automobile to Los Angelinos.
If you are thinking to yourself, “Well that just sounds like the movie version of Grace and Frankie” you would not be wrong. But tell me, who among us doesn’t want a 90-minute, large-screen version of that show? This is sort of like the Downton Abbey movie if they just changed the names of Lady Mary and the Dowager Countess to Lady Claudette and her grandmother Maude—charming, delightful, and a lovely way to spend the afternoon.
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While often light and frother, about halfway through the film reveals the pair’s motive for murder spins atop a much deeper and more serious issue.
And while the duo still spend time bribing people with bacon and shouting at homophobic strangers, both Tomlin and Fonda are given the room to stretch their dramatic acting chops. With one Tony, two Oscars, and eight Emmys between them, Fonda and Tomlin can certainly deliver in a drama just as well as a comedy, and the balance here in Paul Weitz’s script is calibrated perfectly.
Ultimately Moving On is a tale of the friendship and nostalgia shared between two women whose memories of youth are too strong for time (and evil men) to keep them apart. While tragedies in their personal lives may have driven a wedge between them, the weight of their experiences in college and those formative post-grad years where we stumble about the real world like clutzy baby deer, cannot be dismissed.
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Tomlin and Fonda, who are 83 and 84 respectively, are certainly not as spry as they once were, and there is a certain melancholy attached to watching two formidable actors move more slowly and handle objects with less precision than they once did. And while the characters are embracing who they once were, they are also grappling with the fact that they are losing skills (driving, playing the violin) that they once took for granted. As a viewer, you can’t help but preemptively mourn the days when these two beacons are gone. Luckily they have left behind a treasure trove of—dare I use the word—content for us to savor.
Moving On is not groundbreaking cinema, but it doesn’t need to be. Honestly, it’s the better for it.
Moving On feels like reconnecting with old friends to reminisce about your best, funniest memories. It’s spending 90 minutes with two living legends who can deliver quippy one-liners and dramatic monologues with ease. There’s no better way to enjoy an afternoon than at the theater with these two, and I can’t wait to do it again.
Moving On premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. It is currently seeking distribution.
Hey! I’m Matt. You can find me on Twitter here. I’m also a staff writer at Buzzfeed.
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Matthew Huff is a Staff Writer/Assistant Editor for BuzzFeed where he covers film and television. His is also a regular contributor to Runner's World, the author of MARATHONER: What to Expect When Training for and Running a Marathon, published by Rizzoli Publications, and the cohost of “P.S. You’re Wrong: A Pop Culture Podcast". Originally from Michigan, he now lives in New York City, where he is pursuing a career as an expert chicken tender taster and Anne Hathaway stan.