SENIOR MOMENT

US, 2021, 92 minutes, Colour.

William Shatner, Jean Smart, Christopher Lloyd, Don McManus, Katrina Bowden, Esai Morales, Carlos Miranda, Joe Estevez .

Directed by Giorgio Serafini.

In fact, there are some entertaining senior moments for the oldies’ audience.

The setting is Palm Springs, the easy life, the older generation, for the younger generation. However, the focus is on the older generation, especially on William Shatner’s Victor Martin, ex-NASA pilot, skilled reputation, owner of a prized car with speed capacities, spending a lot of time ogling the young bikini clad girls who seem to populate a lot of Palm Springs. He is accompanied by his buddy of many decades, Sal, played by Christopher Lloyd. We see the two of them together, outings, driving, scoffing at younger drivers, challenging them, outspeeding them, and frequently picked up by the police, eventually Victor having to go to court, smugly defending himself and interviewing to 6, but footage of his reckless driving and endangerment played in the court and his losing his car!

Perhaps some of the oldies, macho males, watching the film thus far will be identifying with Victor and Sal. However, as might be expected, there is some moralising and challenging to come. (Even as many of the audiences will be wondering whether Captain James T. Kirk would have been like this in his senior years on whatever planet he retired! Four days after the film’s release William Shatner in fact turned 90!)

Victor has to take the bus, an alien experience, treks to the supermarket, wants to get his license back but fails dismally on the first chance, is coached by a shady entrepreneur – but, ultimately, getting back his license and the opportunity to recover his car.

But, it doesn’t quite work out exactly as he initially might have imagined. First of all, there is that excellent veteran actress of film and television, Jean Smart as Caroline, who has witnessed his recklessness but seeing him at the supermarket, on the bus, and when he comes into her restaurant, smitten by her and her strudel. She also has an environmental cause, to preserve local tortoises. Victor is charmed, returns, accepts rebukes, wants to woo her with an elaborate exercise to create a papier-mâché tortoise support her cause… But, he is wary of the dapper artist who seems to have charmed Caroline – but, the last moment, is introduced to the artist’s husband. So, all is well.

Victor does the right thing by Caroline, the right thing by his young rival and his car, accepts some of the realities of ageing and is happy to have a second chance on life.

For the oldies’ audience – younger audiences might think these themes are so remote!