Wild Oats Poster & Trailer
Monday, August 29, 2016 at 9:02AM by Manuel Betancourt
Shirley MacLaine and Jessica Lange are in a movie together. It's called Wild Oats and it was directed by Andy Tennant of Fools Rush In and Sweet Home Alabama fame. You can see why this news is vexing. We should be thrilled about seeing MacLaine and Lange together (in a comedy no less!) but it might not be a great addition to this growing "Old dames having a ball!" genre that's become a staple of late.
The film, which follows the two Oscar winning actresses "newly rich" (given a banking error in one's husband's insurance policy), "newly single" (see above), and "forever young" (they're timeless, these glittering movie stars) looks to be a tad more Hello My Name is Doris than I'll See You In My Dreams, with a whiff of The Exotic Marigold Hotel. Oh, and did I mention it co-stars Demi Moore?
You can check out the trailer for Wild Oats, which I'm still processing, below. Does it look like a film you'd change the channel for? Perhaps. But I admit that the "Have you ever seen The Graduate?" line had me smirking to myself, and few things are as entertaining as seeing actresses you love having a good time on screen.
Reader Comments (21)
Ha I'll totally watch this... LANGE / MACLAINE / MOORE why not!!
Is it the type of material they deserve to be getting? No, but it looks frothy and fun, they get to be all dolled up and flex their comedy muscles.
I can think of worse ways to spend a couple of hours so I'm a yes that it's something I'd go see.
A bank error in your favor? What is this, Monopoly?
This isn't one of those "comedies" where one of the iconic stars turns out to be dying in the final act, is it?
I'd stream it, while folding my laundry!
Hm... I wonder how MacLaine got top billing.
Not even remotely interested....
Btw, this aired on Lifetime last week. It took me a few nights to get through it. It's borderline embarrassing, but it was fun seeing these great actresses together (they did have good chemistry).
Looks LikeThe Banger Sisters,So I'm in,Lange looks great.
It's Jessica Lange. Then you got Shirl. Don't even have to think about it. All in.
Didn't Shirley write a book on this and share how the producers had no money? I don't do Lifetime but good luck ladies.
YES TIMES INFINITY BABY GET IT GIRLS!!!!!
manuel, nice to meet you the other night.
i am among the world's biggest jessica fans, but yeah this one looks pretty terrible. this movie has (as i'm sure you know) been troubled for over two years now. still, you think with those stars it could at least have gotten a real release.
On one hand, I'm like: Two mature women leading a picture! Lange and MacLaine together! Yes!
On the other hand: Ouch, it looks messy, to say the least.
BUT if they are going to make questionable comedies, I'd rather they make ones with fine gals like this instead of giving money to another Adam Sandler picture.
The filmed aired last Monday on Lifetime. As another chatty moviegoer stated : it's embarrassing. It so poorly written and filmed that it makes you wonder how on Earth it ever came to be completed. I will say this - Jessica Lange is amusing After four season on AHS I completely forgot she could play funny.
Billy, Jessica was pretty hilarious at times on AHS.
Looks like fun!
I'm way too in, no matter how bad it looks.
Both actresses look to be having great fun, even if the material doesn't seem to be quite there.
Synopsis: Two best friends take off to the Canary Islands after one of them is accidentally awarded $5,000,000 by her recently deceased husband's insurance company.
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Towards the end of "Wild Oats", an ebullient Shirley MacLaine and a luminous Jessica Lange share a poignant, tearful moment that reminds one of the power of love, friendship and spontaneity. Maddie (Lange) has made a crucial decision about the direction she will take after having seen her quiet life unexpectedly disrupted by cancer, Eva's (MacLaine) $5,000,000 windfall, a tropical island caper and, finally, love. As she hugs and thanks her best friend of forty years for the adventure of a lifetime, one gets the feeling that Lange is thanking MacLaine as a mentor and a friend. This becomes the key ingredient of the film: the chemistry between and prowess of its two stars, who literally light up the small screen with charm, humor and heartbreak. Coco Chanel once said, "You can be gorgeous at thirty, charming at forty and irresistible for the rest of your life." This has never been truer of MacLaine and Lange.
Still, The Weinstein Company's latest comedy premiered on the Lifetime Channel with little fanfare. Plagued by a chaotic and uncertain shoot, production for "Wild Oats" was completed in February of 2015, after which it sat on the shelf before being suddenly pulled from a September 16, 2016 limited theatrical release and dumped on basic cable. Nonetheless, with a funny, charming script by Gary Kanew and Claudia Myers, a whimsical score by George Fenton, and exuberant and effervescent performances from MacLaine and Lange, this is probably Andy Tennant's best directorial effort since "The Wonder Years" and "Ever After". Tennant directs this with an assured hand and pulls it off. The picture shines and feels every much the theatrical film it was intended to be. One can't help but wonder what the critical and financial response would've been had it been allowed a life in theaters. It's very likely this will get its moment of redemption next year at the Emmys and other awards bodies.
MacLaine and Lange spar with the freedom of icons with nothing left to prove, and MacLaine has the grace to step aside and let Lange shine and nearly claim the movie. She in turn reveals herself to be just as adept at comedy as she is at tragedy, flitting, flirting and farting around (literally!) like a feisty, ethereal cherub. Maddie is by turns impatient, fun-loving, prideful, vulnerable and often hilarious: traits Lange wields to compose a performance that is both comfortingly grounded and zanily unpredictable. There's a moment one-third of the way through the film in which she attempts to explain Eva's strange behavior at an ATM. "He was a machine," Maddie blurts out in reference to Eva's recently deceased husband, mumbling something incoherent afterwards. It's one of her character's funniest moments and one of Lange's finest. Another moment comes as she readies herself for a night out. Looking in the mirror, she lets out a cry of disappointment before brushing it away and flirting with her reflection. Priceless. Lange handles comedy here with gusto and aplomb, though when the time comes to display her prodigious dramatic talents, she triumphs there too. I can see her getting double nods next year: Supporting for "Wild Oats" and Lead for "Feud". She's so good here, I can even see her winning for this", especially after being overlooked this year for her wonderfully nuanced work in Louis C.K.'s masterpiece, "Horace and Pete", and giving Sarandon a clearer path to her first Emmy for "Feud".
Demi Moore as MacLaine's uptight daughter is surprisingly effective, masterfully and subtly playing on the clichés of her character type, but not succumbing to them. Her "Yes it is!" breakdown is hilarious.
"Wild Oats" doesn't stray from the tested formulas of the genre, but it does get those formulas right. What the screenwriters lack in innovativeness, Tennant makes up for with a keen eye and generosity, to the actors and in turn, the audience.
If the movie is as dreadful as that writing then we are in a lot of trouble.
C'mon, not every movie has to have Oscar written on it or garner critical acclaim. It's great to see these two dames having a ball of a time. And judging from the trailer, it's not completely cringe-worthy. I mean Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin seem to enjoying their craft at this stage in their career and not take themselves too seriously! Meryl always knows how to lighten up and have fun. Here's hoping we see the likes of Marion Cotillard and Cate Blanchett doing some comedies along the way. It's good for the soul:)
I'm surprised they're just releasing an official poster/trailer now, as other people have mentioned, it already premiered on Lifetime. Unless they're still planning to do a theatrical release?