30-second review: a story primarily focused on a 78-year old man (jack lemmon) whose somewhat estranged son (ted danson) needs to move back home to take care of him when his wife (olympia dukakis) is hospitalized for a heart attack. oh, and amongst that powerhouse cast is ethan hawke as the third generation son in only his second role. lemmon's performance defies categorization, showing the vulnerability of old age without protecting any movie royalty image, but also sharing a great strength and vitality and realism not often allowed for aged leading actors. it's a movie about the subtle concessions we make in life as we settle into patterns with our family, but one that trials to instill a piece of hope and tenderness into that reality. ----------------------------------------------------------- cinephiles read on... i'm not as familiar with lemmon as classic film enthusiasts or an older generation would be, but i was absolutely stunned by him here. he got a best actor nod at the golden globes, though he (justifiably i think) lost to tom cruise's career-best performance in born on the fourth of july. this is also danson really in his straight-man prime, where he makes a guy who could be the typical fast-living out-of-touch wall street douchebag into a genuinely likable lead character. the whole script is full of simple but relatable dialogue, acknowledging people's fallibilities but not artificially making them extra horrible for quirk and amusement (i will not point fingers but gerwig). this is a much more real and true script than those put-ons, only let down by an odd 4th act turn into movie psycho-babble territory. the film had already told almost a complete narrative that i found really touching by an hour and twenty minutes, then it tacked on another 40 minutes for some reason. i saw after the fact that director gary david goldberg was mostly a tv writer, having won a lot of emmys for his work in the '70s and '80s, for example on family ties. like in that show, he has a real talent for making earnestness not seem sappy and getting to the emotional truth of a moment quickly. but maybe too quickly...maybe this film could've used some more character development, more depth, and longer arcs. it almost feels like 4 tv episodes stitched together. overall though, the performances and relatability of the aging parents won out in this film for me. it's not too flashy in terms of directing technique or cinematography, score or editing. but the cast is great (i mean, pre-creepy kevin spacey? j.t. walsh in a small part? i didn't even mention kathy baker!) and i feel like they really just don't make many movies like this these days.