Growing old is as inevitable as the passing of the seasons. Some of us accept it will happen to us and embrace the wisdom of old age; others fear its approach, bringing death ever closer until eventually the final curtain falls and, as Hamlet says, we shuffle off this mortal coil. Movies about old age needn't be morbid affairs, as Alexander Payne's most recent film Nebraska certainly shows. Arguably Payne's best film to date, Nebraska tells the story of Woody Grant (an excellent Bruce Dern) desperate to get to Lincoln, Nebraska so he can claim the $1 million on a sweepstakes he believes he's won. His son David (Saturday Night Live's Will Forte, considerably more nuanced here than in his other works) tries to explain that the sweepstake is really a ploy to gain magazine subscriptions, but his father is implacable, so he ends up taking him to collect it himself. Beautifully shot in expressive black and white and featuring a raft of pitch perfect performances (June Squibb deserves a special mention as Woody's exasperated wife), Nebraska is a sweet and affectionate look at fading hopes and ambitions in the twilight of life with some superb moments of dry comedy. The following list covers ten more incredible films about life during old age, from profound and reflective masterpieces to quirky comedies and tense dramas.
