The way Roger Ebert felt toward “Bucket List” is kind of the way I feel toward “Poms.” While it is a movie that’s meant to be life affirming and celebrating old age, “Poms” watches like a patronizing, exploitative last gasp of a once excellent actress. For a movie that is meant to be fun and light hearted, “Poms” is painfully depressing while also being embarrassingly bland and silly when we get down to it. I’m all for movies that confront the idea of ageism and that nothing can hold us back from accomplishing our dreams, but “Pom” is absolutely disingenuous to its very foundation.
Martha is an introverted woman who moves to a retirement community hoping to be left alone. She meets Sheryl, a fun-loving neighbor who insists that they become best pals. After coming out of her shell, Martha and her new friend decide to form a cheerleading squad with their fellow residents. As the two women hold auditions, they soon learn that it’s never too late to follow your dreams, even when the odds are stacked against you.
It’s almost like it’s throwing a bone to everyone that appears here. I’m not too sure it was made as a favor or perhaps a lost bet, but Diane Keaton (“Book Club” and now this? You’re killing me) is about as lackluster as she’s ever been. She along with a bevy of other actresses is presented as pitiful more than inspirational. I think there’s a great statement to be made about ageism, and the ability to perform certain feats or sports no matter what the age. But all of that potential is completely destroyed in such a saccharine, dull attempt at a girl power movie. It’s a shame since “Poms” garners other great actresses like Pam Grier, Rhea Perlman, Celia Weston, Jacki Weaver, and Bruce McGill, respectively.
But the movie has nothing for them, and gets off more on presenting them as old and feeble clichés, rather than simply thriving human beings with so much more to prove. The quasi-inspirational overtone is so pandering, that it’s forced onto us until we either accept it or shut the movie down and move on to something so much better. “Poms” is absolutely awful; and in the age of films like “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and “Calendar Girls,” there are much more fascinating statements about aging and getting old worthy of your time.