In Moving On, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin treat an intent to murder with a comical twist.
Moving On, a comedy-drama starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, hasn’t exactly wowed the critics since its release earlier this year. Viewers, too, have been mixed in their reactions. I watched it recently and really had a good time.
Aside from Fonda and Tomlin, both of whom are icons, the male stars of this film are Malcolm McDowell, a legend for his portrayal of Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange in 1971, and Richard Roundtree, considered the first black action hero for the title role in Shaft, also in 1971.
The story is befitting a cast of octogenarians. Yes, the four stars are between the ages of eighty and eighty-six. An elderly woman has died. Her college friends, who haven’t seen her in many years, gather to say farewell. One friend, Fonda, walks up to the newly-widowed husband, McDowell, whom she has known for decades, and tells him she is going to kill him.
Moving On clearly is a comedy, but the screenplay also strongly captures the feelings of a revenge drama. Something very bad happened years before, and the widower is responsible. Fonda’s character has been living with hate in her heart all this time. She finally sees an opportunity to seek retribution. Tomlin’s character at first considers the idea of murdering the widower a joke; her friend must be nuts. Soon, though, she is agreeing to join in the plot, and the two women go hunting for a gun.
Roundtree appears at the funeral; he is Fonda’s character’s ex-husband. He is handsome and sweet and smart, and they rekindle the spark that they once had. Their marriage was inter-racial… one of many clues that this is a movie about society as constructed by filmmakers, on and off-screen, with a liberal bent. Tomlin’s character, a successful retired musician, is revealed as lesbian. The woman being buried was bisexual.
Several scenes involve Tomlin and a little boy who likes to dress in her jewelry. Tomlin is kind to him and nurtures his inclination. The boy’s parents appear briefly, and they are narrow-minded fools who discourage their son’s leanings. With fewer than a dozen characters of any note, this film breaks down society into the liberals and the right-wingers.
Fonda’s and Tomlin’s characters may be heading into the ends of their respective lives, but they are anything but frail in their beliefs and their actions. This is a film that uses comedy ornamentally to deal with some serious issues.
While Tomlin appears as expected, Fonda has changed her look. She wears her hair grey and straight. Her eyebrows are salt-and-pepper grey and kind of thick. Aside from bright lipstick, her make-up is subtle. Still, when she turns on the charm, there is a sex-kitten suggestion to her. As the saying goes, the girl can’t help it!
The plot unfolds, or unravels, as the two seekers of revenge set about to murder the evil widower. As they do, viewers enjoy their time in the company of two sharp ladies. The geriatric jokes are kept at a minimum, and the mean-spirited characters get much less screen time than the good guys. All-together, its eighty-five minutes of pleasure.
I am reminded that in the 1990s, Dawn French starred in a TV series called Murder Most Horrid. Each episode features a dark tale of murder, but told with comical twists. While certainly not as dark, there is a similar spirit exhibited in this film.
Moving On recently was made available on disc and can be streaming.
Audrey Kupferberg is a film and video archivist and retired appraiser. She is lecturer emeritus and the former director of Film Studies at the University at Albany and co-authored several entertainment biographies with her late husband and creative partner, Rob Edelman.
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