SNAPSHOT
In Grace and Frankie, Jane Fonda (Grace) and Lily Tomlin (Frankie) star as two women whose lives are suddenly turned upside down when their husbands reveal they are gay and leave them for each other. Both sparring partners and partners-in-crime, they form an unlikely bond to face an uncertain future together and discover a new definition of “family,” with laughter, tears and plenty of mood enhancers along the way. (official synopsis via AceShowbiz)
The twists and turns of life create some off bedfellows and none more so, if the amusing trailer for Grace and Frankie is to be believed, than the wives, played with comedic aplomb by Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, of two high flying law partners in their 70s, Martin Sheen (Robert) and Sam Waterston (Sol), who have fallen in love right up the noses of their oblivious beloveds.
They find themselves forced together by circumstances beyond their upper middle class imaginings – one previously defined it would seem by fundraisers and fervently-denied cosmetic treatments – into a family of sorts, a gathering of the spurned if you will, who have to find a way to recast their lives without the two men they thought would be with them to the end of their lives.
It’s an awkward, deeply unsettling and highly-challenging situation on a lot of levels, which of course means it’s ripe with all kind of comic possibility along with some deftly placed social commentary no doubt.
Helping matters along considerably is the fact that the show’s creators, Marta Kauffman (Friends) and Howard J. Morris, had the very good sense to cast some major wattage stars in the form of the aforementioned Fonda and Tomlin, who act as two of the executive producers, along with Sheen and Waterston, all of whom possess the ability play comedy well and inject nuance and subtlety into their characters.
Complicating things and helping things in equal measure is the fact that Frankie and Sol, and Grace and Robert, have children, all of whom react to their news in the expected manner, with much of their support, according to the trailer at least, given over to their shocked and grieving, and endlessly bemused, mothers.
One particularly funny scene has Grace’s two daughters, played by Brooklyn Decker and June Diane Raphael, talking with their mother about the possibility of her joining a support group for wives left by their now-gay husbands, with the latter daughter musing whether a group “for wives of husbands who turned gay in their 70s” is even a thing.
You can understand the kids – Frankie and Sol also have two kids, one adopted, played by Ethan Embry and Baron Vaughn – being considerably thrown and confused when even Robert and Sol, in love and eager to get married – Robert happily happily explains “Cause we can do that now” to which an exasperated Frankie retorts through gritted teeth “I know, I hosted the fundraiser” – are having all kinds of trouble explaining their relationship to confused friends and family.
In short, it looks incisive, clever, well-paced and very, very funny.
Sensibly the first season has been kept to a taut and terrific eight episodes, all of which will no doubt be consumed in one concentrated binge-watching session when Grace and Frankie debuts on Netflix on May 8.
Oh, and and don’t forget the 7 stages of grief – you thought there were only 5 but you were wrong; my favourite is medication, one I would no doubt embrace most heartily were I in the same situation – illustrated by an amusing series of posters below:
