Moving On (2022 film)

Last updated

Moving On
MovingOnPoster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Paul Weitz
Written byPaul Weitz
Produced by
  • Stephanie Meurer
  • Andrew Miano
  • Chris Parker
  • Dylan Sellers
  • Paul Weitz
Starring
CinematographyTobias Datum
Edited byHilda Rasula
Music byAmanda Jones
Production
companies
  • Boies Schiller Entertainment
  • Depth of Field
  • Limelight
Distributed by Roadside Attractions
Release dates
  • September 13, 2022 (2022-09-13)(TIFF)
  • March 17, 2023 (2023-03-17)(United States)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2.1 million [1] [2]

Moving On is a 2022 American comedy film written and directed by Paul Weitz. [3] The film stars Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Malcolm McDowell, Sarah Burns, and Richard Roundtree.

Contents

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2022. [4]

In December 2022, it was announced that Roadside Attractions acquired North American rights to the film, which was released on March 17, 2023. [5] This was Richard Roundtree's final film to be released before his death in October 2023. [6]

Plot

Two estranged former friends reconnect at the funeral of a mutual friend, and decide to exact revenge on their dead friend's widower for the harm he caused to them decades earlier. The film opens with Claire traveling to attend the funeral of her old friend Joyce. At the service, she reconnects with Evelyn, another old friend from their past. During the funeral, Claire approaches Joyce's widower, Howard, and bluntly informs him that she intends to kill him. It is revealed that Howard had wronged Claire decades ago, and she has been harboring a desire for revenge ever since.

Evelyn decides to help Claire with her plan. The two women plot against Howard. Through flashbacks and conversations, it is revealed that Howard sexually assaulted Claire many years ago, and Claire has never truly healed from that trauma. She feels killing him is the only way to move on and regain power over her life. Claire makes several awkward and somewhat humorous attempts to confront Howard and follow through on her plan.

Meanwhile, Claire reconnects with Ralph, her ex-husband, whom she has not seen in years. Their rekindled relationship offers Claire a chance at emotional healing and a glimpse of the life she could have had.

Claire eventually confronts Howard about the assault in a tense scene. She holds him at gunpoint. Instead of killing Howard, Claire gains closure through this confrontation and begins to move on with her life, supported by her friendship with Evelyn and her renewed connection with Ralph.

Cast

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 75% of 79 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.4/10.The website's consensus reads: "Moving On fails frustratingly often to rise to the level of its leads, but Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin are entertaining company regardless of the context." [7] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [8]

Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: "We've been spoiled this past decade, discovering what Fonda and Tomlin can do together. Why didn’t Hollywood see the potential of this pairing half a century earlier?" [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Fonda</span> American actor (1905–1982)

Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American actor whose career spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. On screen and stage, he often portrayed characters that embodied an everyman image.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Fonda</span> American actress and activist (born 1937)

Jane Seymour Fonda is an American actress and activist. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda's work spans several genres and over six decades of film and television. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for a Grammy Award and two Tony Awards. Fonda also received the Honorary Palme d'Or in 2007, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2014, and the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lily Tomlin</span> American actress (born 1939)

Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. Tomlin started her career in stand-up comedy and sketch comedy before transitioning her career to acting across stage and screen. In a career spanning over fifty years, Tomlin has received numerous accolades, including seven Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, two Tony Awards, and a nomination for an Academy Award. She was also awarded the Kennedy Center Honor in 2014 and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2017.

<i>9 to 5</i> (film) 1980 American comedy film directed by Colin Higgins

9 to 5 is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Colin Higgins, who wrote the screenplay with Patricia Resnick, and starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, Dabney Coleman, Elizabeth Wilson, and Sterling Hayden. It tells the story of three working women who live out their fantasies of getting even with and overthrowing their company's autocratic, "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Wagner</span> American writer, director and producer (born 1935)

Jane Wagner is an American writer, director and producer. She is Lily Tomlin's comedy writer, collaborator, and wife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Roundtree</span> American actor (1942–2023)

Richard Arnold Roundtree was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft and four of its sequels, Shaft's Big Score! (1972), Shaft in Africa (1973), its 2000 sequel and its 2019 sequel, as well as the eponymous television series (1973–1974). He was also known for featuring in several TV series, including Roots, Generations, and Desperate Housewives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Weitz (filmmaker)</span> American film director and screenwriter (born 1965)

Paul John Weitz is an American screenwriter, director and producer. He is the older brother of filmmaker Chris Weitz. Together they worked on the comedy films American Pie and About a Boy; for the latter, they were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Weitz is also a writer, executive producer, and director of the Amazon Prime Video dramedy series Mozart in the Jungle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances Ford Seymour</span> Canadian-born American socialite (1908–1950)

Frances Ford Seymour Fonda was a Canadian-American socialite. She was the second wife of actor Henry Fonda and the mother of actors Jane Fonda and Peter Fonda.

<i>The Incredible Shrinking Woman</i> 1981 film

The Incredible Shrinking Woman is a 1981 American science-fiction comedy film directed by Joel Schumacher, written by Jane Wagner, and starring Lily Tomlin, Charles Grodin, Ned Beatty, John Glover, and Elizabeth Wilson. A parody of the 1957 science-fiction film The Incredible Shrinking Man, it is credited as based on Richard Matheson's 1956 novel, The Shrinking Man. The original music score was composed by Suzanne Ciani.

<i>Flashbacks of a Fool</i> 2008 British film

Flashbacks of a Fool is a 2008 British drama film about a Hollywood actor who, following the death of his childhood best friend, reflects upon his life and what might have been, had he stayed in England. The film was directed by Baillie Walsh, and stars Daniel Craig, Harry Eden, Claire Forlani, Felicity Jones, Emilia Fox, Eve, Jodhi May, Helen McCrory and Miriam Karlin.

<i>Tall Story</i> 1960 film by Joshua Logan

Tall Story is a 1960 American romantic comedy film made by Warner Bros., directed by Joshua Logan, and starring Anthony Perkins and Jane Fonda in her film debut. It is based on the 1957 novel The Homecoming Game by Howard Nemerov, which was the basis of a successful 1959 Broadway play titled Tall Story, by the writing team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The film was a considerable departure from Logan's previous two projects, the drama Sayonara, which won multiple Academy Awards, and the blockbuster South Pacific. It was Robert Redford's first film — he played a basketball player in an uncredited role.

<i>In the Cool of the Day</i> 1963 film by Robert Stevens

In the Cool of the Day is a 1963 British-American romantic drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Metrocolor and Panavision. The film is directed by Robert Stevens and starring Peter Finch, Jane Fonda, Angela Lansbury, Arthur Hill, and Constance Cummings; with Nigel Davenport, and John Le Mesurier.

<i>All Together</i> (2011 film) 2011 film

All Together is a 2011 French-German comedy film written and directed by Stéphane Robelin, and starring Jane Fonda and Geraldine Chaplin as participants of an alternate living experiment, that is observed by a graduate student played by Daniel Brühl. The film marks Fonda's first French-speaking role since starring in Jean-Luc Godard's film Tout Va Bien (1972).

<i>This Is Where I Leave You</i> 2014 film

This Is Where I Leave You is a 2014 American comedy drama film directed by Shawn Levy, and starring Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver, Rose Byrne, Corey Stoll, Kathryn Hahn, Connie Britton, Timothy Olyphant, Dax Shepard and Jane Fonda. It is based on the 2009 novel of the same title by Jonathan Tropper, who also wrote the film's screenplay. This Is Where I Leave You tells the story of four grown siblings who are forced to return to their childhood home after their father's death and live under the same roof for seven days, along with their over-sharing mother and an assortment of spouses, exes, and might-have-beens. The film was released on September 19, 2014, and grossed $41.3 million against a $19.8 million production budget.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Fonda filmography</span>

The following is a complete filmography of Jane Fonda. An American actress, writer, activist, former fashion model and fitness guru, Fonda has won two Academy Awards, for Klute (1971) and Coming Home (1978).

<i>Grace and Frankie</i> American comedy television series (2015–2022)

Grace and Frankie is an American comedy television series created by Marta Kauffman and Howard J. Morris for Netflix. The series stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as the eponymous Grace Hanson and Frankie Bergstein, two aging women who form an unlikely friendship after their husbands reveal they are in love with each other and plan to get married. Sam Waterston, Martin Sheen, Brooklyn Decker, Ethan Embry, June Diane Raphael, and Baron Vaughn co-star in supporting roles.

<i>Grandma</i> (2015 film) 2015 film by Paul Weitz

Grandma is a 2015 American comedy-drama film written, directed, and produced by Paul Weitz. It stars Lily Tomlin as Elle, a lesbian poet and widow whose teenage granddaughter visits her to ask for money for an abortion. Over the space of a day, they visit numerous people from Elle's past to call in favors in an effort to raise the money.

<i>I Feel Pretty</i> (film) 2018 American film directed by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein

I Feel Pretty is a 2018 American comedy film written and directed by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein. The film stars Amy Schumer, Michelle Williams, Emily Ratajkowski, Rory Scovel, Aidy Bryant, Busy Philipps, Tom Hopper, Naomi Campbell, and Lauren Hutton. The plot involves an insecure woman who, after suffering a head injury, gains extreme self-confidence in her appearance.

<i>80 for Brady</i> 2023 film by Kyle Marvin

80 for Brady is a 2023 American sports comedy film directed by Kyle Marvin in his directorial debut from a screenplay by Sarah Haskins and Emily Halpern, and produced by former NFL quarterback Tom Brady. Inspired by a true story, it focuses on four lifelong friends who travel to watch Brady and his New England Patriots play in Super Bowl LI in 2017. Billy Porter, Rob Corddry, Alex Moffat, and Guy Fieri also star.

References

  1. "Moving On (2022)". Box Office Mojo . IMDb . Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  2. "Moving On (2023)". The Numbers . Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  3. Mike Fleming, Jr., "Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda Re-Team For Paul Weitz-Directed ‘Moving On;’ Limelight & Boies/Schiller Funding". Deadline Hollywood , September 24, 2021.
  4. Jeremy Kay, "Stephen Frears, Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence films among Toronto galas, special presentations". Screen Daily , 28 July 2022.
  5. Goldsmith, Jill (December 13, 2022). "Roadside Attractions Acquires U.S. Rights To Paul Weitz's Revenge Comedy 'Moving On' With Jane Fonda & Lily Tomlin, Sets Theatrical Release". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  6. Koseluk, Chris. "Richard Roundtree, Suave Star of 'Shaft,' Dies at 81". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  7. "Moving On". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  8. "Moving On". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  9. Debruge, Peter (September 14, 2022). "'Moving On' Review: Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda Stick It to the Man in Irreverent Reunion". Variety. Retrieved December 19, 2022.