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Right off the bat, Marilyn (Brenda Vaccaro) loses her husband and reluctantly agrees to join the Club, where she soon buddies up with Lois (Dyan Cannon). A similar pairing takes place between Jack (Len Cariou) and the suave Harry (Joseph Bologna), and soon enough, each lead is being advised on how to create sparks in an effort to lure the opposite sex back into their lives.

The film, like the characters, seems to embrace its brasher bits. It would appear that the age of 65 might not be quite the ultimate threshold for (brief) nudity, (minor medical) marijuana use, (slight) profanity, and sexuality. In fact, the topic of sex is frequently mentioned, although never too explicitly, serving as a constant reminder to viewers that seniors may not have forgotten all about the birds and the bees quite yet. Today’s elderly lovers are armed with cell phones and online dating services, and are eager to relearn cooking and driving in their efforts to hit on each other. A shirt proclaiming that “old age isn’t for sissies” runs a bit on the obvious side, but a sly remark unwittingly dismissing a neighbor as “a typical Florida driver” is just too true to write off, at least for those of us who actually reside here. Although most codgerly conventions are otherwise avoided, several generalizations, such as Goth grandkids, snot-nosed brats, and every other kind of short-tempered whippersnappers, are allowed to slide, thanks to double standards that seemingly justify reverse-ageist stereotyping. As a teenager, I do feel an obligation to bring to light such typically accepted gestures, even if they don’t impede the story as a whole.

Director Susan Seidelman has gone from Desperately Seeking Susan to desperately seeking seniors, treating the direction and screenplay with a mere sufficiency that reflects more her recent television work and satisfactorily suits the material. The whole ambiance is kept lightweight, paired with an equally upbeat color palette and soundtrack. Cozy old-school ditties permeate the picture and always happen to start on cue whenever someone flicks on a radio, while any and all original music is a constant variation of the Sex and the City theme. The relationship segments are entirely foreseeable as each woman tries to make her man drool (voluntarily), and even the theme of the conventional climactic dance is tailored to be a New Year’s sock hop. The entire ensemble doesn’t have to work too hard to keep the film afloat and do as good as anyone could, with no particularly performances standing out for better or worse.

Considering how easy to please such an audience tends to be, 'BBB' is not necessarily a hip-busting good time, but it is positively quaint enough to be embraced by its core demographic and withstood by everybody else. When it hits video, go ahead and do your folks a favor by bringing over a copy on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and popping it into that new-fangled DVD player. Both geriatric flirting and fare could certainly be worse.

link directly to this review at https://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=14259&reviewer=409
originally posted: 06/04/06 22:45:24
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