‘80 for Brady’ finds its fans

BOSTON — With audiences showing a continued preference to stream movies in the comfort of home, away from crowds and overpriced snacks, the box office take for many films has suffered. But the new comedy “80 for Brady” tested the trend and succeeded. It brought in a higher-than-expected take of $12.5 million and nabbed the number two spot at the box office in its opening weekend, grossing just about $2 million less than the horror film “Knock at the Cabin.”

The movie, set in 2017, follows the misadventures of a group of older women who are such superfans of the New England Patriots, and its star quarterback at the time, Tom Brady, that they decide to take a road trip to see the team play in the Super Bowl in Houston.

The stars — Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno and Sally Field — have an average age of 84, making the film a rare template: a road-tripping women’s empowerment movie for the senior set.

Based on the kernel of a true story about a group of female friends who watched Patriots games together weekly, it diverges from reality in nearly every way. The actual coterie never experienced the road trip, or the scams, flirtations, high-stakes poker game, choreographed dance maneuvers, wigs, spicy chicken wing-eating contests, consumption of high-potency weed edible.

The fact that this AMC 19 theater was in central Boston, where Brady led the Patriots to a half-dozen Super Bowl wins didn’t hurt either.

But it was the plot, and particularly the cast, that was the attraction for many.

“It’s ladies of our age,” said Jane Pappalardo, 79, who attended with her longtime neighbor and friend, Rosalie R. Shane, 78.

“I’ve seen every episode of ‘Grace and Frankie’ five or six times,” she said, referring to the popular Netflix series starring Fonda and Tomlin. “I don’t like to see superheroes and violence and shoot-em-ups and things that 20-year-olds want to see. This is for us.”

Shane agreed. “My husband is away for a week, so I’m getting to see my friends and we’re doing fun things. I said to Jane yesterday, ‘You want to get together and get a glass of wine?’ And she said, ‘How about going to see this movie, and then we’ll have a glass of wine.’ ”

20TH CENTURY FOX / EVERETT COLLECTION