Poms Parent Guide

Poms’ PG-13 rating is completely irrelevant because only one criteria really matters in determining the audience for this film: Do you need reading glasses? If not, you are probably too young for it. But, if the answer is yes, and if you are also female, you are the target demographic for Poms. And you will probably have a whale of a good time at the show.

The story is centered around Martha (Diane Keaton), a retired schoolteacher who has decided not to have any further treatment for her ovarian cancer. She downsizes from her big city apartment and moves to a retirement community in Georgia to die. (“Have the time of your life for the rest of your life” is the community motto.) But Martha’s neighbor, spunky redhead Sheryl (Jacki Weaver) is too full of life for anyone nearby to simply die quietly. Sheryl is an irresistible force and thanks to her persistence the two become friends. Martha shares her thwarted adolescent desire to be a cheerleader and Sheryl encourages her to try again. Since she literally has nothing to lose, Martha runs with it and decides to start a cheerleading club for the women in the seniors’ community.

Of course, every cheerleading movie has mean girls, and the mature cheerleaders have to face them, both the officious administrator at their community and the snarky teen cheer squad from the local high school. And, like in every sports film, the women face challenges but these are centered around their aging bodies – as are many of the laughs.

And there are plenty of laughs in Poms. The screening I attended was frequently punctuated by loud bursts of laughter from the audience. But this film is more than a string of one-liners about getting old. It’s also a drama with heart that derives a great deal of poignancy from its sympathetic depiction of its characters’ fears and courage. Diane Keaton’s performance is competent, although it feels like she’s reprising the same character she’s played before (Book Club, anyone?). The real light in this film is Jacki Weaver, whose bittersweet portrayal of the relentlessly upbeat Sheryl is both funny and touching. Sadly, the other women on the cheer squad don’t get a lot of screen time and few have developed backstories. They may feel like stock characters but they are portrayed with charm and grace and Rhea Perlman, in particular stands out as Alice, a timid woman finally freed from a controlling marriage (and suspected of killing her husband). The bond that develops between the women – and with the teenage girl they recruit as a coach - is a valuable reminder of how critically important friendship and community are for all of us.

I’m not going to discuss potential areas of parental concern for Poms because no teenager is ever going to watch it unless they are having movie night with Grandma. But the only area that will likely concern most potential viewers is related to language. There is no explicit sexual content but there are approximately twenty swear words and one sexual hand gesture. The bigger issue revolves around sexual innuendo: there are frequent uses of crass terms for women and slang terms for male and female anatomy, and repeated brief mentions of sexual activity and sexually transmitted infections. This is particularly disappointing because it prevents me from giving three cheers for Poms. But I will definitely give it two.