For all the drama, the artsy Grandma (rated R for language and some drug use) is emotionally arid. It seems writer-director Paul Weitz, who made his directorial debut in 1999 with the raunchy American Pie, put his energy into setting up several not-entirely-inaccurate Christian and traditional-value straw men and knocking them down. But instead of getting defensive, Christian viewers should remember our Great Physician came for the sick, not the healthy.
Like a botched plastic surgery, the sexual revolution reshaped motherhood as a medical condition that can be chemically scheduled and surgically terminated. Now, after a couple of generational spins of the revolution, grandmothers’ roles in society have radically changed as well. But Grandma, a new pro-abortion, pro-LGBT film showing in limited release, cannot hide the chaos that marks lifestyles out of step with God’s design.
Septuagenarian Elle (Lily Tomlin), once a marginally well-known poet-professor, still mourns the loss of her longtime lesbian partner. But for the past four months, Elle has been in a relationship with Olivia (Judy Greer), a beautiful woman half her age. As the film opens in the early morning, they are quarreling and break up.
Just after Olivia leaves the house, Elle’s 18-year-old granddaughter, Sage (Julia Garner), arrives. She tells her grandmother she’s 10 weeks pregnant and has already made a 5:45 p.m. appointment at an abortion center across town. But she doesn’t have the $630 to pay for the abortion. Neither does Elle.