Victor is a retired NASA test pilot living out his golden years in Palm Springs, trying to cling to his youth. Caroline is a free-spirited restaurateur who knows how to make a mean apple strudel but never found the right man.
That these two crazy kids will find their way to each other is baked into the premise of “Senior Moment,” a romantic comedy traipsing through well-trodden pit stops on the road to a predictable conclusion. While the film is too weightless to warrant a recommendation, the joy of seeing its talented cast of legendary actors play off each other offers enough charms not to dismiss it outright.
年代tarring William Shatner and Jean Smart as the central couple, “Senior Moment” offers the novelty of seeing older actors march through a checklist of rom-com tropes. There’s value in showcasing how the realities of life and love don’t stop after a person hits retirement age, but too often, the movie traffics in broad set pieces that undervalue its talented cast rather than leaning into the emotional truth underlying scenarios.
The script by Kurt Brungardt and Christopher Momenee finds Victor deprived of his driver’s license, and his beloved vintage Cadillac tossed into impound, after one too many drag races with his best friend Sal (Christopher Lloyd). Forced to contend with public transportation, the one-time speed demon is forced into a slower life that leads him to Caroline, a woman whose restaurant he previously raced past.
This being a movie that sticks strenuously to its formula, we know the couple must fall out of love before their happily ever after. The list of contrivances laid out for them is multitudinous and monotonous. As directed by Giorgio Serafini, there’s little spark to the proceedings beyond what the cast is able to bring just with their established personas. The comedy feels joyless, with the execution often leaving the characters adrift with listless staging.
The shame is that Shatner (who recentlycelebrated his 90th birthday) is a perfect choice to play Victor, with the character’s space pilot backstory winking at the actor’s “Star Trek” past. From his appearance in 1980’s “Airplane 2” to his Emmy-winning role as Denny Crane on “The Practice” and “Boston Legal,” Shatner has always been able to play humor with aplomb. The passage of years has done nothing to dull his timing.
在聪明的他有一个完美的伴侣把玩笑to, with the “Designing Women” star giving as good as she gets. As such, the film is best when showing these characters getting to know each other. There’s a simple pleasure in just watching the actors work. Unfortunately, it feels like the filmmakers didn’t have enough confidence in the central hook of two older people falling in love to let it play out honestly, without the filmic artifice of this story.
Unlike “When Harry Met Sally,” which took the formula in directions illuminating basic truths about gender relations, or even 2014’s “They Came Together,” which masterfully lampooned the entire genre, “Senior Moment” is content to walk its familiar faces through too-familiar paces.
The best thing you can say about this “Moment” is that, at a breezy 92 minutes, it’s a brief one.
K“Senior Moment”:Romantic comedy. Starring William Shatner, Jean Smart and Christopher Lloyd. Directed by Giorgio Serafini. (Not rated. 92 minutes.) In select theaters and on demand Friday, March 26.