It's a character study and morality play and bildungsroman, subtly executed and lovingly performed.

| Jul 22, 2016

The best thing about Grandma, other than Tomlin's furious and funny performance, is that Elle never gets too cuddly.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 12, 2016

It is one of those performances, like Bruce Dern in 'Nebraska' or Julie Christie in 'Away from Her,' that seems a culmination of everything that's great about a beloved actor, and a celebration of them.

| May 28, 2016

In director and writer Paul Weitz's mix of drama and comedy, there are stand-out performance from Lily Tomlin and Sam Elliott.

| May 10, 2016

Paul Weitz, the co-creator of American Pie, wrote the clever, consistently funny, surprisingly affecting script especially for Tomlin, who hearts back with one of the best performances of the year.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 23, 2016

With not a wasted frame in its taut 80 minutes, this is deserving of your attention as one of the year's best movies even if it's being released in the middle of August.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Dec 15, 2015

Were Oscar voters to nominate Tomlin for a Best Actress award, it would definitely cause waves. Here's hoping.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 13, 2015

This is Tomlin's show, and she makes it her own. When Elle jokes early on about "transmogrifying my life into art", you get the sense that Tomlin is doing the same.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 13, 2015

Grandma is a gem of a film with a very abrasive edge.

| Dec 11, 2015

Acerbic, unexpected and quietly heart-warming without ever approaching sappy, this takes a no-nonsense approach to big issues - life, love and ageing - and never feels heavy-handed.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 10, 2015

Grandma may not always know best, but it's nearly always funny and absorbing, and there are moments of emotional perspicacity to make you gulp.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 10, 2015

In Grandma, Lily Tomlin is entertainingly and terrifyingly eccentric as a ballbreaker of a grandmother.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 10, 2015

Maybe a bit predictable, and you just know that this feisty oldster is going to spark up a picturesque joint. But Tomlin sells it.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 10, 2015

Although the end is not as daring as I might have hoped, and may be rather sentimental - there I go, picking holes again - this is still lovely. Not intergalactically lovely, but lovely all the same.

| Dec 10, 2015

A fun way to spend an hour and 19 minutes, if not a major work.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 10, 2015

Writer-director Paul Weitz turns in a generous, handcrafted piece in which everyone shines.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 25, 2015

The movie is both hysterically funny and heartbreaking, but Weitz somehow makes you laugh without making light of serious issues.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 24, 2015

Both funny and unexpectedly moving.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 24, 2015

Short, tart, yet unexpectedly sweet, Paul Weitz's "Grandma" is a small-scale character study - and, because that character is played by the great Lily Tomlin, it's mesmerizing, right up until its final frame.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 17, 2015

Lily Tomlin delivers an Oscar-worthy performance in "Grandma" - funny, rattled, cranky, worried, aggressive, vulnerable and loving.

| Original Score: B+ | Sep 11, 2015