Full disclosure: I was pretty sure “80 for Brady” was either a joke I half-remembered from a podcast or a fragment of a fever dream. Imagine my surprise when the ads started running (and boy oh boy did they ever run) and it became clear that, neither humor nor hallucination, this movie was real and it was happening.

Four iconic actresses of a certain age – Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Sally Field and Rita Moreno – star in a story revolving around the quartet’s adventures in Houston as they attempt to watch their beloved hero Tom Brady win the Super Bowl against the Atlanta Falcons.

(Seriously: read that sentence aloud and tell me that you sound anything other than crazy.)

I’ll confess that I wasn’t sure who this movie was for or why it even existed, but as it turns out, that “who” was a far larger group than I ever would have imagined. It’s a weird amalgam of interests. People like sports movies, but are those the same people who like movies starring women of a certain age? You wouldn’t think so, but here we are. You see, lots of people went to see it opening weekend. LOTS. Not “Avatar 2” lots, but enough to climb to the top of the box office.

As for the movie itself? Honestly, it could have been worse. SHOULD have been worse, frankly, except that the filmmakers benefitted from an incredibly talented central cast that elevated a too-thin concept and a below-average script into something genuinely pleasant to watch. Utterly lightweight and disposable, but not a terrible way to spend a couple of hours – particularly if you’re a fan of these four women and/or of reliving Super Bowl LI.