Given the talent, you know you're pretty much in safe hands. Risk averse, this pleasant little tale treads on precisely no toes and Bening and Cranston are both likeable old near-crusties on the verge of impending end-of-life doldrums.
Until they take it upon themselves to play the lottery using a loophole they found and this period of their lives takes on a whole new exhilarating adventure.
Directed by David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada, Marley & Me), this is what I can best describe as 'just lovely'. 'Just' because that's really all it is and 'lovely' because it is highly unlikely to make you do anything other than smile. You may not laugh out loud, but you won't be reaching for the razor blades either.
"Do you want a bong hit real quick?" "I don't know what that is."
Brad Copeland's (Arrested Development, My Name Is Earl) screenplay has enough smarts to keep you invested in the everlasting 'What If?' premise of winning a bucket load of money and what to do with it when you do. How palatable that would be is largely down the characters, who here are nothing but the epitome of good old fashioned American family values.
This could have been a very different story, of course, but Paramount+ are here to cheer you up, to escape from your mundane existence for a little while, not drag you even further into the pit of near suicide you're already half a step from falling into.
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