Movie Nation

“Moving On” is an amusingly edgy geriatric comedy that provides that late career comic duo Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin with their best star vehicle since “Nine to Five.”

The laughs are droll, and unlike the strained “Grace & Frankie” and lumbering “80 for Brady,” the effort doesn’t show. They’re just two graceful pros, effortlessly playing to their strengths and put through their paces by a writer director (Paul Weitz), who gives them a vehicle worthy of their reputations and talent.

Claire (Fonda) is an 80ish Ohioan who leaves behind her beloved corgi (Dashiell), less-beloved daughter and grandkids to travel to a California funeral. One of her best friends from college has died.

She waits for her moment before the service to pass her condolences on to Joyce’s widowed husband, Howard (Malcolm McDowell). She looks him square in the eye, not a trace of pity in her.

“I’m going to kill you,” she says. “Now that she’s gone, now that it won’t hurt her…this weekend” will be his last, she vows.

Howard is a little rattled, but plainly he knows something we don’t. He has no trouble collecting himself for the eulogy he begins to deliver.

That’s when blowsy, out-of-effs-to-give Evelyn (Tomlin) strolls in and interrupts. She was Joyce’s college roommate, a concert cellist, a bit of a loner, and not all that interested in reconnecting with Claire after the service. A lift? No thanks, I ‘ll take the bus.

“I’m gonna KILL the bastard” leaves Evelyn unmoved. “I’m gonna buy a gun and I’m gonna take it to the wake!”

“Sure, Scarface. Sounds like fun.”

The dynamic is established. Evelyn knew Claire way back. She’s all talk and no follow-through. And Claire? She’s so out of touch with Evelyn she has no notion of her life since college, or that she’ll actually help her accomplish for this rash, violent act.

It’s a tribute to these two, wholly comfortable with each other’s timing and rhythms, that they make this nasty proposition funny — the committed but unreliable killer, the cynical, snarky, half-disinterested “old friend.”

And it’s a tribute to Weitz (“Grandma,” “About a Boy,””Admission,” “Little Fockers”) that this perfectly cast script keeps its secrets, keeps things moving along and keeps us interested with every new revelation and character addition along the way.

McDowell makes a grand straight-man in all of this, a widower with a point of view whose mourning and tolerance of Claire could very well be masking something else. That’s a nicely-turned-out character arc, and well-played.

Richard Roundtree is at his most courtly and chivalrous as one of Claire’s exes. And young Marcel Nahapetian makes a mark as the grandson of one of Evelyn’s neighbors in assisted living, a neglected kid whom she sees even if his parents and grandfather do not.

“My grandson?”

“Well maybe. Time will tell. But let’s not get into that.”

Yes, a lot of the laughs are of the low-hanging fruit variety. But they’re on a higher plane than anything in the cumbersome “80 for Brady.” Two “love birds” are “love pterodactyls” at “our age” is par for the course.

“Moving On” is still more than funny enough to coast by, but demanding in ways that flatter and honor its seasoned cast, each of whom gets the best role she or he has had in years thanks to Weitz’s light comedy with a dark edge.

That one time I interviewed Jane Fonda? Right here.

Rating: R, for violence and profanity

Cast: Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Malcolm McDowell and Richard Roundtree

Credits: Scripted and directed by Paul Weitz. A Roadside Attractions release.

Running time: 1:25

I like the idea of an Oscars that isn’t hurried. They were still “playing people off” at the 95th Academy Awards, and some needed it. But most did not.

Let people finish their thoughts. The laundry list speeches are still around, but come on. We come for the weeping and the narcissism.

They brought back all the categories. And gave Jimmy Kimmel the sort of indulgence and license they used to give Billy Crystal. A few laughs, more than a few cringes.

That was in keeping with Disney slapping its brand all over a telecast that didn’t feature Disney winners. I heard a rumor that non animated “Little Mermaid” is coming soon. You?

Tacky.

The Oscars ran long but so what? You go to bed and check out YouTube the next AM and see and hear what you missed. 3:42 is still short by Super Bowl standards.

The show made for some great television. Lady Gaga stripped down, emoting and belting and getting attention for not shocking, a Bollywood dance number, Salma and Antonio, winning pairings all up and down the line.

And tearful speeches from the sentimental favorites who won in almost every category.

Angela Bassett and Brendan Gleeson and Colin and Ms Deadwyler had better get Oscar worthy offerings in the near future. If there’s any justice in this annual popularity contest, they will.

That’s more than a few Oscars for this marquee picture from Netflix. A career peak for composer Volker Bertelman, a gracious speech.

Is there a “trend” pointing towards a Best Picture upset? Maybe.

A lovely, ominous and weighty score. But this should have been the one Oscar “Babylon” should have taken. That’s a propulsive, unforgettable, jazz age epic sound.

Here’s a win for Apple!

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” based on a children’s book, a best seller, it was my favorite among the nominees that I saw.

The fact that it’s on Apple TV means it was the most widely seen competitor in this category.

Warm, sentimental, simple and sweet.

Brits give the wittiest acceptance speeches.

There was a whispering campaign underway a few weeks back that this was actually your Best Picture dark horse. But we’ll have to see about that.

Gorgeous film, unfortunate timing, coming so soon after the Oscar-winning epic “1917.”

But certainly the most widely seen Best International Feature in this field. Score another Big Win for Netflix. Magnificent film in its own right.

Ruth Carter thanks her mother and praises the production for increasing representation and altering the world looks and the way we look at it.

She just lost her mother, at 101. Sweet speech.

I mean, come on. That’s a transformation.

No, you shouldn’t play winners off. The show is unhurried, Kimmel wasted a bit too much time on the opening. Let it run as long as it runs. It’s the youtube snippets of Big Moments that’ll put it in the black.

James Friend wins for the most striking real world photography in the Oscar field this year. Not a good speech, not his thing. But the work speaks for itself.

“Fire of Love” was a lot of people’s favorite. Mine too, probably. Very “Grizzly Man.”

But “Navalny” was the most topical film in this field, although others were just as important, thanks to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the fact that Putin has this film’s subject, Alexi Navalny, in prison on trumped up charges, was poisoned on orders from Russia’s Nazi runt.

And the acceptance speech for the Oscar winning live action short short “An Irish Goodbye” made time for an emotional kick, too. Well done.

It seemed like Angela Bassett’s Oscar to lose. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” was one of the more middling films to earn nominations, but she’s regal in it.

Wonder if Jamie Lee’s lovely, loopy SAG acceptance speech and other Awards Season moments altered that trajectory? She has refused to take herself too seriously, and milked every appearance like it was Comic Con and they were coronating her. Again.

“WE just won an Oscar,” to an entire team. “To all of the people who have supported my genre films over the years, WE JUST WON AN OSCAR TOGETHER!”

Beautiful moment for Jamie Lee Curtis, scream queen, ’80s sex symbol and “Trading Places” heroine, as teary as Mr. Quan’s.

Now, somebody call Angela Bassett for a role that will get her nominated next year. She’s way past due.