Over the decades, we’ve gotten umpteen movies about famous athletes, but very few look at those stars’ fans. In the latter vein comes 2023’s 80 for Brady.

Four elderly friends regularly gather to watch their favorite football team, the New England Patriots. Of course, this means they experience excitement when the Pats reach Super Bowl LI in early 2017.

Lou (Lily Tomlin), Trish (Jane Fonda), Maura (Rita Moreno) and Betty (Sally Field) agree to pursue a mission: attend the event in person. That proves easier said than done and sends the ladies to the Houston game site for a series of adventures.

Movies based on real events often play fast and loose with the facts, and that becomes the case with 80. While a group of Massachusetts women did unite over their love of Brady and the Pats, they never attended a Super Bowl.

But hey, who wants to watch a film about some old ladies who socialize in front of a TV? To adapt this tale to the big screen, 80 needed to become essentially a work of fiction.

Not that I take real issue with this, as 80 doesn’t pretend to deliver a documentary. The bigger question becomes whether or not this project can bring anything other than an ode to Brady’s ego.

A well-deserved ego, I must add. Though I never liked the Patriots, I gravitated toward them over his tenure because I admired Brady so much. He went from barely-drafted afterthought to arguably the greatest quarterback in NFL history.

That doesn’t mean I want to watch a movie that slobbers all over him, though. And slobber 80 does, as it exists at least partly to celebrate the now-retired athlete’s greatness.

When 80 doesn’t praise Brady, it follows the expected “fish out of water” shenanigans we get from movies about groups of older women. Perhaps I should applaud that any kind of films focused on elderly women exist, as Hollywood’s allergy to folks of AARP vintage remains well-known.

And it does seem nice to see a cast packed with so much aging female talent. Of the four leads, three won Oscars, Tomlin – the lone “holdout” - has enjoyed plenty of plaudits herself.

As much as I like the presence of this cast, I wish they could find a project that deserves them. Unfortunately, 80 becomes a spotty product without much to land a punch.

80 barely attempts a plot. While the trip to the Super Bowl acts as the theme, it exists mainly to plop the lead characters in a mix of comedic circumstances.

Actually, trailers implied that 80 would feature the ladies’ pursuit of game tickets as a major story point. Instead, it plays a small role and doesn’t really impact the tale much.

Instead, 80 becomes an exploration of… not much. As much as the film wants to become a view of older female friendship, instead it just provides a semi-random conglomeration of semi-comedic scenes without much to truly link them.

This leaves us with a rambling, semi-incoherent film that goes from one vaguely comedic set piece to another. Beside the overall theme, not much links these elements, and the characters all evolve in simplistic, predictable ways.

80 truly goes off the rails during its climax, as it takes the fantasy to ridiculous extremes. Again, I get that the film doesn’t attempt a documentary, but it becomes literally unbelievable in its final segment.

I’d say this bizarre third act crushes the movie, but 80 never works well enough to be ruined. Despite the charms of an over-talented cast, this film sputters from start to finish.

80 for Brady appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a largely satisfying presentation.

Only minor issues impacted sharpness, as occasional wider shots demonstrated mild softness. Nonetheless, the majority of the flick appeared accurate and well-defined.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaw also remained absent.

Colors veered toward a fairly natural palette, with only a bit of the usual amber and teal. The hues felt pretty peppy and full.

Blacks seemed deep and tight, while shadows appeared smooth and concise. The movie provided the expected positive visuals.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack seemed fairly ordinary. Not that this felt like a surprise, as a comedy about four elderly women didn’t appear like one that needed a big, engrossing mix.

The soundscape did pop to life at times, mainly via football events. Most of the time, though, the mix concentrated on general ambience and didn’t imbue a lot of pizzazz.

Audio quality worked fine, with music that seemed vivid and full. Effects offered good accuracy, even if they failed to push the envelope.

Speech felt natural and concise, without edginess or other issues. Again, this became a less than stellar soundtrack, but it suited the story.

As we head to extras, we find four featurettes. The Game Plan spans 13 minutes, 38 seconds and includes notes from producer Donna Gigliotti, writer Sarah Hoskins, producer/actor Tom Brady, director Kyle Marvin, and actors Sally Field, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Billy Porter, Rita Moreno, Sara Gilbert, Harry Hamlin, Jimmy O. Yang, Guy Fieri, and Glynn Turman.

“Plan” looks at the project’s origins and development as well as story and characters. A couple of minor insights emerge but mostly we get a generic summary of the movie.

We get more about the cast from The GOATs. It lasts nine minutes, nine seconds and involves Gilbert, Yang, Hamlin, Porter, Moreno, Tomlin, Fonda, Field, Turman, and actor Ron Funches.

“GOATS” gives us notes about the four lead actors. Expect a whole lot more praise and little actual substance.

The Visiting Team goes for six minutes, 39 seconds and brings remarks from Gilbert, Porter, Yang, Hamlin, Funches, Moreno, Fieri, Field, and actors Retta and Patton Oswalt.

This one examines some of the movie’s supporting cast. More fluff results.

Finally, The Largest Comeback in Super Bowl History fills five minutes, 39 seconds and provides info from Brady, Hamlin, Field, Moreno, Fonda, executive producer Mike Covino, actors Rob Corddry and Alex Moffat, and football players Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola.

Here we get a little about the football side of the movie. It doesn’t offer anything memorable.

Three Deleted/Extended Scenes occupy a total of three minutes, 56 seconds. “Pants” (2:09) extends a segment that already runs too long, so the extra material doesn’t help.

“You’re Still Going?” (1:11) gives us a smidgen more of Betty and husband Mark, while “Book Signing” (0:35) presents a couple positively influenced by Trish’s erotic novels. Both seem superfluous.

Less a film and more a concept, 80 for Brady boasts mild charm due to an overqualified cast. Unfortunately, the movie lacks coherence or intelligence and too often feels like a waste of talent. The Blu-ray comes with very good picture, adequate audio and a mix of bonus materials. While not as awful a film as I anticipated, 80 nonetheless seems pretty weak.