By Randal C. Hill
Her name is Thelma, and she’s the least likely action hero you’ll encounter at the multiplex this summer. After six decades of acting, June Squibb, who’s 94, has landed her first starring role as Thelma Post, a grandmother who brazenly refuses to accept the limits of old age when she is phone-scammed out of $10,000.
“Thelma” is the brainchild of comedy-improv writer/director Josh Margolin. He based his story on his own grandmother, who had herself been phone-scammed out of $10,000.
Onscreen, Thelma lives alone in a Los Angeles condo. Her daughter Gail (Parker Posey) and son-in-law Alan (Clark Gregg) hover over her, ever alert for possible signs of a mental decline. But her ungrounded grandson Danny (Fred Hechinger) is the only family member who actually spends much time with her.
When Post is scammed, family folks pass it off as a reminder of her age and naivete’. She refuses to roll over, however, and instead sees the event as a clarion call to action.
She tracks down the source of the theft, then calls on nursing-home widower/friend Ben (“Shaft” star Richard Roundtree, in his final film); he owns an electric two-seat scooter and can accompany Thelma on her mission. On the way, she stops to get a pistol. An incredulous Ben asks, “Do you even know how to use it?” To which she blithely responds, “How hard can it be? Idiots use them all the time!”
“Thelma” is more than just a study in revenge; here we witness firsthand the strength of a determined senior out to achieve justice in the face of daunting odds.
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Squibb, who grew up in a small Illinois town, recalls, “I knew I wanted to be in show business ever since I came out of the womb.” She began performing in musicals at 19, moved on to the Broadway stage, and only began making films at age sixty. Film fans will recall Squibb’s Academy Award nomination for her role as a salty matriarch in “Nebraska,” the Bruce Dern classic from 2014.
There’s already Tinseltown buzz about a possible Oscar nomination for “Thelma” which opens July 19.
