5 Not-So-Silent Generation Movies
The Silent Generation, named for those born between 1928 and 1945—right after the Greatest Generation and before the Baby Boomers—has produced some of Hollywood’s most beloved stars. They’re not exactly living up to the definition of “silent,” though! Here are 5 films that prove it:
80 for Brady – New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady was in the class ahead of me at University of Michigan, and my ex-co-worker was his roommate! If I had a chance to tell this fun fact to this film’s Brady-obsessed quartet of BFFs (Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno, Sally Field and Jane Fonda) this news, they might have passed out. Instead they yelled “YOLO!” and headed off to the 2017 Superbowl to witness Brady in action against the Atlanta Falcons. Rest assured, their quest to get to (and into) the game is anything but silent!
Dirty Grandpa – When I was just looking up some information about this movie, there was a featured search-return page answering the question: “Is Dirty Grandpa OK for kids?” And the response was: “The MPA rated Dirty Grandpa R for crude sexual content throughout, graphic nudity, and for language and drug use. “
So, um, no. This isn’t a movie Opa or Grampy or Papa or Abuelito is going to want to gather his grandchildren around for. Reread everything above and then picture Robert DeNiro as the naughty elder who wants to take his grandson (Zac Efron) out on a wild bachelor night, and Aubrey Plaza as the girl-half-his-age he’s chasing around town. NOT silently, either.
The Bucket List – In this 2007 buddy dramedy from crowd-pleasing director Rob Reiner, Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson play hospital patients who meet on the day they learn they both have terminal lung cancer. Feeling like they have nothing to lose, they decide to embark on a journey around the world together to cross as many things off of their “bucket list” as possible. As the lovely poem by Dylan Thomas goes, they will not go gentle into that good night!
Gran Torino – Clint Eastwood stars in and directs this drama about Walt Kowalski, a racist and intolerant Korean War veteran who forms an unlikely friendship with Thao Vang Lor (Bee Vang), his teenage Hmong neighbor, after confronting bullies who were trying to pressure Thao to steal Kowalski’s prized 1972 Ford Gran Torino. Grumble it with me now in your best Dirty Harry voice: “Get off my lawn.” While Kowalski may be a man of few words, he’s definitely not silent.
Grumpy Old Men – And finally we come to a movie starring quintessential members of the Silent Generation: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau and Anne-Margret. I bet you can figure out who the title’s referring to, right? Lemmon and Matthau play warring neighbors whose feud escalates when both of them become interested in Ariel, Anne-Margret’s character. I assure you there is a lot of shouting!