Grandma
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: August 21, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisAug 26, 2015
Lily Tomlin has been one of our best comedic actresses for the past 50 years, and she’s at the height of her powers in the beautifully observed dramedy Grandma. Her performance is funny, acerbic, touching — and ultimately, exhilarating. Read full review
100
New York PostLou LumenickAug 20, 2015
Tomlin and Elliot relive their characters’ pain and anger so deeply that they could very well both end up with Oscar nominations. Read full review
100
The New York TimesA.O. ScottAug 20, 2015
There is much to praise about this sweet, smart comedy of intergenerational conflict and solidarity.... But honestly, the wonder that is Grandma can be summed up in two words: Lily Tomlin. Read full review
98
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeAug 24, 2015
Grandma is both smart and sweet, mature and bawdy, knowing its characters’ flaws yet open to the possibilities of people acting upon their best instincts. It is without a doubt one of the year’s best films. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianMarc MohanSep 18, 2015
Grandma is a movie that, for what it's worth, gets an A+ on the Bechdel test. Writer-director Paul Weitz may still be cashing residual checks for the "American Pie" movies, but this is his most heartfelt, successful effort since 2002's "About a Boy." Read full review
91
The PlaylistKatie WalshJun 11, 2015
On the surface, Grandma is a simple story, but the script imbues it with deep reserves of emotional depth and meaning that are slowly, organically revealed over the course of the plot. Read full review
90
TimeMary PolsAug 23, 2015
Weitz knows his muse. But he’s smartly made room for Tomlin to explore her own wisdom, to look into a mirror (literal and figurative) of an older woman’s past and present with remorse, tears and, best of all, delighted laughter at discovering something new in herself. At 75, Tomlin remains the coolest. Read full review
90
Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekAug 18, 2015
It gradually settles and deepens into something nuanced and moving, a character study that's not so much about aging, specifically, as it is about the great and awful process of getting to know yourself. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenSep 9, 2015
Weitz (About a Boy) is a sharp observer, and Tomlin and the rest of the cast are so superlative that any anxiety is quickly quelled. You’re happy to follow this movie over the river and through the woods. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaSep 3, 2015
There are some terrifically strong scenes and terrific actors contributing to them. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 27, 2015
At times Grandma overdoes it with the stand-alone scenes in which crusty ol’ Elle causes a scene or sticks it to some jerk. It’s a little too neat. Mostly, though, Weitz’s screenplay strikes sharp note after sharp note. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyAug 21, 2015
A modestly scaled character comedy-drama that winds up exerting an almost shockingly strong emotional force by the end. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattAug 19, 2015
Sam Elliott, Marcia Gay Harden, and Judy Greer supply sharp cameos, but this is Tomlin’s movie, and she obliges with a spiky, refreshingly unvarnished performance. Read full review
80
EmpireHelen O'HaraDec 7, 2015
Acerbic, unexpected and quietly heart-warming without ever approaching sappy, this takes a no-nonsense approach to big issues - life, love and ageing - and never feels heavy-handed. We should all be so lucky in our grandmothers. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinAug 21, 2015
Grandma marks a new era in gay cinema — one’s that confident and mature enough to acknowledge regret. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyJun 11, 2015
There's admirable frankness, intelligence and sensitivity here. Additionally, the film is a thoughtful, funny reflection on the gains and losses of growing old. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanOct 2, 2015
The temptation to soften Grandma, to sentimentalize her character or sweeten her encounters with people she has cast aside over a long life, must have been almost irresistible. Luckily, writer-director Paul Weitz resisted it. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonSep 11, 2015
An ideal showcase for Tomlin, who brings to the film a winning blend of contrariness and effervescence. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrSep 3, 2015
It’s predictable in many places and acerbic in others, sentimental when you expect it and poignant when you don’t. But it stars Lily Tomlin, and that’s all you really need to know. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayAug 27, 2015
Like all of her greatest creations, Tomlin brings Elle to life with compassion and candid, sometimes withering knowingness. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsAug 27, 2015
It's very slight, and very short (barely 75 minutes minus the end credits), but the material is just effective and affecting enough to make up for its own schematic quality. It's a matter of watching a series of actors, led by Tomlin, tag off on their respective scenes. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonAug 19, 2015
It’s an artful, funny, endlessly surprising little acting and writing showcase that shows just how far it’s possible for writers to take tired, clichéd characters, by treating them as human beings and caring what goes on underneath the surface of the easy jokes. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversAug 19, 2015
Lily Tomlin works miracles. She's comedy royalty whose best films (Nashville, The Late Show, All of Me, I Heart Huckabees) always cut deeper than a smile. But no Oscar. Maybe Grandma will do the trick. It's a Tomlin tour de force. Read full review
70
Screen DailyAllan HunterDec 28, 2015
Grandma was clearly made on modest resources and can look a little rough and ready in places. Viewers will, however, be more than willing to overlook its imperfections - because it is so funny and engaging and because Lily Tomlin is such a joy to behold. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMichael SragowAug 20, 2015
Weitz's film moves from clunky domestic dramedy to genuine feminist odyssey. Read full review
70
SlateJune ThomasAug 20, 2015
The film isn’t about abortion, or even really about Sage. It’s about grief and the importance of moving on. When Sage forces Elle to ask others for help, Elle has to let down her defenses and allow her loved ones to see that her misanthropy is mostly an act. Read full review
70
VarietyScott FoundasJun 11, 2015
Though likely to be variously praised and pilloried as a pro-choice film, Weitz’s film is really a movie about choice in both the specific and the abstract — about the choices we make, for good and for ill, and how we come to feel about them through the prism of time. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerAug 21, 2015
The cast is uniformly good, although Tomlin overdoes the crusty-crone routine. She scowls a lot, but we all know she’s a secret softy. Read full review
67
HitfixGregory EllwoodAug 20, 2015
The fact Tomlin is so good also highlights the film's biggest problem. Too much of what works in Grandma comes from the subtle touches Tomlin, Elliott and Harden bring to their characters, not Weitz’s script. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezSep 10, 2015
The movie is slight and, at 75 minutes without end credits, barely qualifies as a feature-length film. But Tomlin is a wonder. Read full review
60
The TelegraphRobbie CollinDec 17, 2015
The film unquestionably dices with slightness. But you don’t leave the cinema feeling that something was missing, and Tomlin, who appears in every scene, constructs a persuasive and highly watchable character. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottSep 18, 2015
What we end up with is a sweet, feminist character study that shows off Weitz's deft hand as a writer while doubling as a perfect showcase for Tomlin. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfAug 28, 2015
Would that Grandma had given rascally Sam Elliott more time to express his magnificent unease as Elle’s old flame, still wounded by her own choices. Single-handedly, he saves the film from its cutesy instincts. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsKatherine PushkarAug 19, 2015
As Elle, Tomlin is Tomlin, which is to say great. Garner’s Sage is whiny, wise and winsome, which is to say an excellent 18-year-old. Read full review
60
The GuardianBrian MoylanJun 11, 2015
Grandma is fun and brisk, though sometimes the encounters seem a little pat, and Elle’s grief about the death of her partner a year earlier is way overdone. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedAug 20, 2015
It’s a movie that knocks itself cross-eyed trying to be hip, clever and today about acerbic seniors, but instead it only makes you long for old ladies in aprons exclaiming “Land sakes alive, I smell something burning in the oven!” Read full review
50
Slant MagazineR. Kurt OsenlundAug 19, 2015
Writer-director Paul Weitz's proudly boisterous star vehicle for Lily Tomlin has about as many ambitions as it does delusions. Read full review
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