Peek at the Patricia: Legends unite in star-studded affair

80 for Brady – you had me at Sally Field, Rita Moreno, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda!

Football player Tom Brady, who also produced the film, plays himself. And yes, resistance is futile: The actors in this film have been mesmerizing us with the fascinating, vibrantly human characters they’ve portrayed for a combined more-than-two-centuries, along with many Oscars, Tonys and Emmys.

This glossy sports-spectator comedy has the four besties, unified by their love for Brady — among the oldest quarterbacks in NFL history, at 45 this past season — trying to make it to the Super Bowl to cheer him on for the win. It’s a sports film that highlights characters’ reactions to the sport instead of highlighting the drama of the sport itself.

There are many moments that provoke a feeling of curious, inescapable familiarity, but the charm and novelty of its distinguished performers adds enough new flair to make the film shine.

The star-studded affair is the kind of boisterous comedy that makes for a super girls’ night out, and that’s the not-so-subtle plan here: to bring groups of IRL girlfriends back to the theatre for giggles.

In Living, Bill Nighy puts in a career-best performance in an emotionally searing drama set in the 1950s about a repressed and terminally ill man who discovers life just as it comes to an end. His performance may well leave you a sobbing mess.

The charismatic English actor dials it back in this remake of Akira Kurosawa’s meaning-of-life classic Ikiru, adapted by Kazuo Ishiguro.

After a mad and undignified attempt at boozy debauchery, Mr. Williams realizes there is one thing he might still achieve: forcing the city authorities to build the modest little children’s playground the community has been clamouring for. Through sheer force of will, he is determined to get the playground built before death closes in.

The film begs the question: Is it possible to achieve Mr. Williams’ passionate dedication without the terminal illness? Or is the terrible paradox of life that you need to be told what you already know, but are trying not to think about, in order to get going? This is a gentle, exquisitely sad film.

80 for Brady, rated PG, plays at the Patricia from February 17 to 21 at 7 pm, with a matinee Sunday, February 19, at 1:30 pm. Running time is one hour and thirty-nine minutes.

Living, rated G, plays at the Patricia from February 24 to 28 at 7 pm, with a matinee Sunday, February 26, at 1:30 pm. Running time is one hour and forty-three minutes.

Gary Shilling is executive director of qathet Film Society.