“Taking from an aged individual is as unhealthy as stealing from a baby,” growls Jason Statham in “The Beekeeper,” reinforcing the picture of “helpless” outdated individuals in want of defending. (He spends the remainder of the film knocking heads after scammers steal cash from his gullible landlady.) With “Thelma,” writer-director Josh Margolin tries out a unique strategy, casting nonagenarian character actor June Squibb as an unlikely but satisfying motion star. It’s a cute thought, celebrating the willpower and willpower of a 93-years-young lady. If audiences are prepared to droop their disbelief for “The Beekeeper,” why not do the identical when it’s Squibb on a rampage?

“Thelma” bloomed out of Margolin’s relationship along with his personal grandmother, and its extra endearing dialogue exchanges had been instantly lifted from issues the real-life Thelma says and does (as of the indie movie’s Sundance premiere, Margolin’s inspiration was alive, properly and 103). Squibb’s character has a doting — and barely dopey — grandson of her personal, Daniel (Fred Hechinger, from “White Lotus” Season 1), who visits recurrently, doing his finest to clarify such unfamiliar ideas as electronic mail and computer systems.

No marvel Thelma appears so involved when she will get a name from a younger man claiming to be her grandson. The voice on the opposite finish sounds unusual to Thelma as he describes a complicated automotive accident, however she adores Daniel sufficient to fall for it. The younger man instructs Thelma to name his “lawyer” (that’s Malcolm McDowell’s voice on the opposite finish), who instructs her to ship $10,000 in money to a non-public P.O. field. It’s a well-recognized ploy — my very own grandmother was taken in by the same con — and one which police are largely incapable of implementing, although I believe the culprits are hardly ever as small-time as “Thelma” makes them out to be (nor as big-time as “The Beekeeper” would have us consider).

It might have been rather a lot worse, purpose her family members (led by Parker Posey, relegated to an uptight supporting position reverse Clark Gregg’s father-knows-best kind as Thelma’s fussy daughter and son-in-law). A minimum of she wasn’t harm, Daniel chimes in. After which everybody goes on with their lives. Everybody however Thelma. With a wink to “Mission: Unimaginable” star Tom Cruise, she resolves to get well the cash herself, sneaking out and enlisting her late husband’s finest pal, Ben (late “Shaft” star Richard Roundtree), who reluctantly lends her his electrical wheelchair.

Talking from expertise, when an aged cherished one is taken benefit of like this, caring relations don’t merely go on with their lives. Extra doubtless, such an incident would spark the Discuss — as in, a severe dialogue of what steps have to be taken to higher defend the sufferer. I can think about one other model of this story the place, overhearing her household debating whether or not to improve her to an assisted residing facility after the theft, Thelma decides to show that she’s nonetheless succesful sufficient to settle the difficulty on her personal (during which case the stakes appear greater, for failure means forfeiting her freedom). What I can’t think about is how Margolin justifies skipping over the inevitable household powwow ready on the opposite facet of her journey.

Thelma’s outing is definite to have penalties; Margolin merely doesn’t care to contemplate them. That’s as a result of the film is principally a valentine to his headstrong granny. “Thelma” might invoice itself as an unconventional motion film, however it’s extra of a sitcom, actually (one clue: Nick Chuba’s tinkly, often Lalo Schifrin-inspired rating serves largely as wallpaper, punching up the film’s usually whimsical power). The result’s much less edgy than triad-defying “Fortunate Grandma” or the irreverent late-career romps that includes Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, like “Grandma” and “Shifting On.”

Given its affectionate, gently comedic tone, “Thelma” by no means tackles the intense dimension of its topic — at the least, not past noting the danger {that a} 93-year-old injures extra simply than heroes half her age. At one level, she and Ben cease in to gather a handgun from a forgetful outdated pal (Bunny Levine) who lives alone, and the film acknowledges how harmful such preparations will be. In Thelma’s case, she’s already had breast most cancers, a double mastectomy, sepsis, edema, a valve alternative, a hip alternative and a mind tumor. She is aware of that if she falls, it’s recreation over, which makes her mission all of the extra brave.

Regardless of having acted practically all her life, Squibb acquired a comparatively late begin in films, the place she’s been stealing scenes ever since (most memorably in Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska”). This character isn’t practically so punchy, which makes the finale really feel relatively anticlimactic. Thelma in the end manages to find the criminals who conned her, although the confrontation is weaker than we’ve been promised.

That patronizing line from “The Beekeeper,” the place Statham compares aged individuals to kids, feels a bit of too apt as “Thelma” treats the massive showdown the best way a children film may. Margolin would most likely argue it’s extra sensible that method, although the one factor that feels actual is how deeply he adores her. In the long run, it’s not a high-concept “Cease or My Meemaw Will Shoot” a lot as a heat hug, one which anyone with an aged relative can admire on some degree.