Elle (Lily Tomlin) breaks up with her girlfriend of four months Olivia (Judy Greer). Elle is a feminist writer. She lost her college job and is flat broke. Then her granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner) shows up. Sage is pregnant and needs money for the scheduled abortion later that day. The two women go on a quest. There is the idiot father of the baby, Elle's friends, her ex-husband Karl (Sam Elliott),and finally in desperation Sage's mother Judy (Marcia Gay Harden). The day-long odyssey uncovers past conflicts and family dysfunctions.

These are wonderful women. They really inhabit these roles. Lily Tomlin is perfect and Julia Garner holds her own. There are plenty of outstanding supporting actor. Harden and Greer are wonderful. Sam Elliott shines in his one section. This has a breezy comedic tone within the tougher family drama. The laughs are small and could be bigger.

Grandma is an Oscar bait movie for Lily Tomlin. She plays the acerbic even bitter grandma (Elle) of the title. A renowned writer, poet, lecturer and lesbian we see her cruelly breaking up with a much younger partner. Of course Elle has never got over the death of her long term partner.

The film is divided up into six segments but is essentially a road movie set in a single day where Elle revisits her past and allows Tomlin to be grouchy and bad tempered. Yet the the reason for her journey is her granddaughter has turned up and announced she is pregnant and wants money (about $600) for an abortion.

We later find out that her mother (Marcia Gay Harden) is a high powered businesswoman and has plenty of money but both her daughter and Elle have an uneasy relationship with her.

Elle only has a few bucks in her name goes out with her granddaughter in her old, classic car to visit people from her past, a few who owe her money. First stop though is her granddaughter's douche bag boyfriend who Elle beats up.

Of course further along the journey Elle becomes tender, her edginess becomes less jagged. The best scenes are with her ex played by Sam Elliott who is still bitter after forty years that she left him the way she did.

Of course the abortion angle is not taken lightly. Elliott has become a patriarch with several grandchildren and is not happy to give money for an abortion. At the abortion clinic Elle gets into an argument with a protester.

The film is billed as a comedy drama. There is less comedy but it is a no nonsense film about ageing, family and looking back over your life.

Now I get that this movie is not for everyone. It's very "talky" (the dialog though is really something to behold, unless you have issues with bad language) and it has very strong female roles/characters throughout. Male counterparts are very few and in between. Though still cast greatly as you can see in the cast list.

And you need every piece to make this work. And work it does, when you hear Lily T. going off and see her flaws, but also her charm, it's pure joy to watch. Unless you do want your movies packed with action rather than words of course or where expecting this to be a horror movie (the title alone could suggest a lot of things, if you are not aware of the story). I'm almost surprised by the fact this has not a higher rating though ... and it's kind of a shame!