Essentially Two Great Movies Jammed in One Good Movie
When you hear the premise of “My Old Ass,” where an 18 year old trips on mushrooms and subsequently meets her 39 year old self played by Aubrey Plaza, you’d think you’d maybe be in for some serious comedic tomfoolery.
But “My Old Ass,” while definitely funny, is actually more of a light family dramedy than potential raunchy, high concept comedy I went it thinking it was going to be. Which works for better and for worse for the movie, as it sort of seems like you’re watching two movies while watching it.
On the one hand, you’re watching a comedy where 18 year old Elliot trips and meets 39 year old Elliot, and subsequently receives cryptic but sardonic guidance from her older self, things like “Spend more time with your family,” and “stay away from this boy.” It’s pretty cool and fun and intriguing.
But then we go into the other movie, which is almost a “Coda”-esque family dramedy, where Aubrey Plaza’s Elliot becomes unreachable. And all of sudden the premise of the movie is somewhat forgotten in favor of younger Elliot’s family and romantic drama.
This back half of the movie is good too, and does eventually tie back to the dual Elliot timeline, and powerfully so. But the stark divide between the two veins of plot in the movie threw me off a little, and I almost think this could be better served as two different movies. It’s a great premise but underutilized, but overall effective enough to keep the movie as being a good one in general.