Grace and Frankie

Getting divorced at the age of 70? Leaving your wife for a man at the age of 70? In the past, people with more than 20 years of marriage just stuck together. Maybe they were not in love anymore, maybe there was only respect and companion, but a new start at the age of 70 was never a chance. Grace & Frankie makes the opposite happen in a such a real way. Because they are 70 years old people, but they live in 2015. They have cellphones, computers, they masturbate, they have sex, they get high, they feel lonely, they cry, they laugh (and make us laugh) about what happens when you are 70 and don't spend your days in a rocking chair.

I'm only 28 years old and find this show so refreshing. A reminder that getting older does not prevent you from doing stupid things, making mistakes and/or hurting people you love. Because getting older never means you stop failing at life, but you can always take it in a humorous way.

*Note* This review was written after finishing Season 1. I hope it continues this good.

I will always love Lily Tomlin. I always enjoyed Jane Fonda in her youthful movie star mode, but since she came out of retirement, she elevates everything she's in. I think she was the primary reason I kept watching Newsroom for three seasons. I kept waiting for her every appearance. In Grace and Frankie, Tomlin and Fonda have to overcome a rather unbelievable situation--that is to face the fact that they husbands they have been married to for over forty years have somehow falling in love and intend to marry each other. Relegated to a kind of "Odd Couple" status, they end up living in a Malibu beach house their husbands bought years earlier. Each couple used the house on separate weekends. Now Grace and Frankie have to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives and move on. Jane Fonda as Grace is at her brittle comedic best. She delivers in spades, looks stunning in her latish 70s and plays off Lily Tomlin's hippy-esque character with spunk and funny nerve. Grace has to face the fact that she's an uptight, judgmental pain in the ass. And Tomlin's Frankie is just the person to remind her over and over again. The scripts are tightly funny. The interplay between the two ex-couples is expert. Sam Waterston and Martin Sheen have nearly thankless roles as the two spouses who dump their wives, but they handle the dialog ad the romantic banter with dignity. But let's face it, you're waiting for Grace and Frankie to spark off each other. It's not the kind of laugh-out-loud absurdest insults The Golden Girls hurled at each other with such glee, but the humor is key here. There is is just enough drama to remind us of the absurdity of life. I couldn't wait to watch this show when it was announced. Fonda and Tomlin were terrific with Dolly Parton in Nine to Five, but they are even better here. This is a terrific show. I'll stick around as long as these two glorious stars are here to make us laugh and cry.

I binged the series over a 2-day period and wished there was more. The characters were well developed and the whole thing was very entertaining. It covered many bases that divorce can bring about to family and friends, and dealt with issues of loss, honesty and aging, among others.

I wish Sheen and Waterston had had greater chemistry between them, but their interactions with the family members were believable and poignant. I especially enjoyed June Diane Raphael and Baron Vaughn, as two of the four adult children.

What I can't decide is who I liked better, Fonda or Tomlin. In each case, they braved characterizations that were vulnerable and multi-faceted. In the case of each, this is their best performance, and the two together were phenomenal. Funny one moment and heart-tugging the next.

This is an adult story, in the best sense of the word.

I will admit the first episode is kind of "meh." I wasn't thrilled. I mean this was Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda! It should have been rolling funny.

It wasn't. And the second episode? Well...

But then!! OMGosh!

By the third episode the writers and cast and crew had found their stride and I was in love. So clever! So funny! So sweet! So engaging! Yes, that is a lot of explanation points but I couldn't help it. The show deserves them all.

Lily is simply wonderful as Frankie. I mean I fell in love with her. I want her as my BFF. Fonda was wonderful as well as the uptight Grace. She could have played it as a cliché but I was happy to find myself slowly warming up her as the episodes passed. In other words, Fonda showed up the person beneath the outer shell.

I liked Sheen but was crazy about Waterston playing the men who leave their wives to be with each other.

I wasn't crazy about some of the kids, but that wasn't the actor's faults. They did great. I just didn't find them very likable people. But again that was all right.

For instance is Brooklyn Decker cold as Mallory--but she was a chip off her old mother (Fonda). And Fonda's other daughter, June Diane Raphael as Brianna, is a bit of a bit*h. But again, she was a product of a mother who was never there and very self involved.

I did however love Ethan Embry as Coyote (one of Tomlin's adopted kids). He is a recovering addict of all kinds and my heart went out to him. The only member of the cast that I was cold to was Baron Vaughn as Nwabudike (the other adopted son). I don't want to be mean but he was terrible. He approached his character as if this show were a 70s sitcom and not a Netflix dramedy--his acting over the top. He jolted me out of the story every time.

I really hope this show comes back for a second season. I loved it!

I love Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. I hope this show never ends. I just hate that Netflix releases whole seasons in one day. I already finished season 5, and now I don't know what to do with my life.