Senior circuit: The most memorable movies about elderly friends

Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are two of the most-venerated actors of their time, and they joined forces for “The Bucket List.” The movie was middling, but it effectively placed the idea of the “bucket list” into the popular lexicon. It introduced to many the idea of a list of things to do before one “kicks the bucket,” which is what Nicholson and Freeman are doing in the film.

A recent addition to the list, “80 for Brady,” has quite the cast. It focuses on four female friends who want to take a trip to the Super Bowl to see Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in action. The comedy is…pretty bad. However, somehow “80 for Brady” just really managed to work its way into the zeitgeist.

Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau worked together several times in their careers. After a few collaborations under director Billy Wilder, the two kept working together even in the later stages of their career. “Grumpy Old Men” sees Lemmon and Matthau keeping their chemistry going, and the movie proved popular enough that there was a sequel, “Grumpier Old Men.”

“Book Club” is kind of like “80 for Brady,” since it sweatily tries to grasp something from the cultural conversation with mixed, at best, results. In this case, a group of gals have a book club where they read “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The movie was an undeniable hit, and it has gotten a sequel that hopefully has nothing to do with “Fifty Shades Darker.”

Mary Steenburgen is in both “Book Club” and “Last Vegas.” Apparently, she’s become a staple of adults of a certain age flicks. As you might surmise from the title, “Last Vegas” is about some older friends visiting Las Vegas. It’s kind of like a tamer take on “The Hangover” for the AARP crowd.

Martin Brest would go on to direct ‘80s classics “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Midnight Run” (and also “Gigli”), but “Going in Style” got his career going. It’s about three senior citizens who decide to pull off a heist, which is surprisingly successful. The film stars George Burns and Art Carney, so it’s probably not surprising that it is a comedy. “Going in Style” was remade in 2017. Yes, Morgan Freeman is in it.

“Cocoon” features quite the cast of actors, most of them of the older variety. It’s about aliens who facilitate a way for older folks to feel younger. Don Ameche won an Oscar for “Cocoon.” Famously, Wilfred Brimley was only 49 when he was cast in the film.

OK, this is the one cheat we are allowing ourselves. Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn play a married couple, not friends. However, in terms of movies focused on older individuals and their dynamic, “On Golden Pond” is one of the most iconic. It was the second-highest-grossing movie domestically in 1981, and both Fonda (in his final role) and Hepburn won Oscars.

What if retirees started a cheerleading squad? That’s the premise of “Poms.” Well, gentle comedy, if not hilarity, ensues. It helps that Diane Keaton is the star. Now, why would seniors start a cheerleading squad? It’s best not to think about that to enjoy “Poms.”

Clint Eastwood often stars in his own films, and after a certain point, he was unabashed about making his age a key factor in the narrative. “Space Cowboys” certainly reflects that. It’s about four former test pilots who get a chance to be astronauts in order to fix a Soviet satellite to prevent disaster.

George Burns won an Oscar for “The Sunshine Boys,” which also costarred Walter Matthau. The film, based on a Neil Simon play, is about an old vaudeville duo that begrudgingly agrees to reunite. While Burns’ win was a bit of a career achievement award, it ensured that “The Sunshine Boys” would be remembered.

Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster made several films together at the peak of their stardom, usually of the hard-charging variety. The two played on their respective images later in their career in “Tough Guys.” Douglas and Lancaster star as two convicts released from prison after 30 years thanks to a hijacking arrest and deal with culture shock and try to pick their lives back up.

This horror comedy has only a smidge of friendship, but we wanted to include this cult film anyway. Bruce Campbell, the legendary “B” movie actor, plays, well, Elvis. It turns out Elvis didn’t die, and he’s living in a retirement community. Of course, nobody believes he’s really Elvis Presley. The closest thing to a friend he has is Ossie Davis as a man who claims to be John F. Kennedy. Anyway, they fight an evil mummy.

Steven Soderbergh loves a challenge. Like, say, shooting a movie on the Queen Mary 2 during an actual crossing of the Atlantic with a mostly improvised script. The film focuses on Meryl Streep as a successful author as well as her fraught friendships with characters played by Candice Bergen and Dianne Wiest.

A decidedly British movie, “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” focuses on a group of retired British expatriates moving into a retirement community in India, run by Dev Patel. Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith are both in the film. There was also a sequel called, no joke, “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.”