Based on critical reception (which I didn’t know about until after I saw this), I’m almost embarrassed to say I liked this movie. I guess I’m not supposed to… yet I can’t deny that I thought it was an uneven but warmhearted and bittersweet little movie. It certainly means well and has good performances even if it doesn’t land every single aspect.

The film stars Billy Crystal as an aging comedy writer for an SNL-like show who is suffering from early dementia. He’s keeping his diagnosis hidden from his coworkers and family and working to maintain his memory. A random run-in with Tiffany Haddish turns into a friendship as he works through his issues, remembers his life, his dead wife, and attends his granddaughter’s bat mitzvah.

My favorite part of this film was the relationship between Crystal and Haddish – a simple friendship between a younger woman and an “old man” (as she calls him) that relies on their simply making each other laugh (and being friends). It’s warm and its sweet and I wanted to see where it was going (and worried that it’d end up in a May/December romance). Haddish is, in my book, a revelation here. Not that she’s ever lacked charisma, but here she maintains her sassy persona but layers in enough personal charm and warmth that I really wasn’t missing her usual more aggressive schtick.

But that leads me to one of the problems with the movie… Billy Crystal is warm and charming and (usually) funny… but when he’s called on to play deeply emotional or terrified, I think we see the limits of his acting range. He’s never bad so much as distracting… like I kept hoping he’d find the right note but he never quite gets there.

But, hey, the emotional heart of the film is still sound and Haddish is pretty great. I felt warm and cozy, despite the film’s limitations. If it had a stronger leading actor (sorry Mr. Crystal) and more consistent humor, it’d score a little higher. But that’s not enough to kill the movie, especially if you just want something warm and human to watch.

Score: 82