The 20 most memorable movies with older protagonists

Ian McKellen is one of his generation’s finest actors, capable of delivering a remarkable performance on stage and on screen. In Mr. Holmes, he plays one of the most famous characters to have emerged from detective: none other than Sherlock Holmes. This is a far older version of the character than normally seen in the movies, and McKellen imbues him with both strength and vulnerability. Though the film’s narrative is sometimes lacking, it’s nevertheless fascinating and rewarding to see Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective in a new light.

Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon were two actors who always seemed to have startling chemistry, and in Grumpy Old Men,  they are an unstoppable comedy duo as a pair of feuding next-door neighbors. The film is one of those feel-good gems that only the ‘90s could have produced, and it’s just a whole lot of fun to watch Matthau and Lemmon sparring on-screen. It also features several other notable performances, including those by Ann-Margret, Burgess Meredith, and Daryl Hannah.

Based on the play of the same name, The Trip to Bountiful focuses on Geraldine Page’s Carrie Watts, an elderly woman whose greatest desire is to return home to her small town. However, she has to overcome several impediments, including her son and his wife, neither of whom wants her to travel without them. Though she eventually gets back to her hometown, she finds it has been abandoned, and she eventually reconciles with her son and daughter-in-law. It’s a touching film that ably conveys the angst and sadness of aging and realizing that one’s youth can never truly be recaptured, no matter how much one might wish it were otherwise.

It’s a meeting of great talents in The Bucket List,  which stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as a pair of older men who, finding out they have lung cancer and don’t have much time to live, go on a road trip to do the things they’d always wished they’d done. There’s no question that the movie more than exceeds its fair share of schmaltz and sentiment. However, it’s clear that both of the leads are having such a good time, and their camaraderie is more than enough to carry the film over the finish line.

One can always count on Judi Dench to deliver a dynamite performance, but even so, Philomena is some of her finest work. In the film, she portrays Philomena Lee, who spends decades trying to find the child that was taken from her when she was young. It’s a beautiful story, made all the more poignant and wrenching because it is based on a true story. Dench brings such wrenching pathos to the role that one can’t help but feel moved, even as they also feel angry at those who would use their faith to inflict suffering on others.

There’s no doubt that Judi Dench and Maggie Smith are widely beloved, and it’s always a pleasure to see them in a movie together. In Ladies in Lavender, they play a pair of spinster sisters whose lives are turned upside down when a handsome Polish violinist washes up near their home. There’s a potent poignancy to this understated film, and both Dench and Smith deliver remarkably textured and resonant performances, demonstrating once again why they remain two of the most respected actresses of their generation. 

2018’s Book Club is a fun little film focused on a group of older women whose reading of the steamy book Fifty Shades of Grey  causes a bit of an awakening among them. It’s an embarrassment of riches regarding its cast, which centers on Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen, Jane Fonda, and Diane Keaton. The plot may be, at times, more than a little predictable, but it’s so much fun seeing these women together in the same film that one can’t help but love it, and it ends up being undeniably and irresistibly charming. 

On paper, Ron Howard’s Cocoon seems more than a little silly, focusing on a group of people whose lives are changed forever by aliens. However, it works remarkably well, and much of this is due to the extraordinary cast, which includes such established Hollywood greats as Hume Cronyn, Wilford Brimley, Don Ameche, Jessica Tandy, and Gwen Verdon. The film does sometimes veer a bit into the sentimental, but there’s something enduringly appealing about its sweet sci-fi story.

Hollywood veteran Bruce Dern is in fine form in Nebraska,  where he plays Woody Grant, an old man who goes on a road trip with his son, David (played by Will Forte). Dern gives one of the finest performances of his long career, and the film manages to be both funny and more than a little tragic, often at the same time. As a bonus, June Squibb — who has made a career out of playing characters that steal the scene despite their limited time on it — portrays Woody’s wife, who has clearly had enough of his nonsense.  

Swan Song was one of those films from 2021 that seemed to fly under the radar, but it is nevertheless a touching and poignant piece of filmmaking. At the film’s center is Udo Kier’s Pat Pitsenbarger, a gay man who escapes from his nursing home so that he can do the hair of one of his former friends and clients, who has since died. Along the way, he reflects on his past and those who have already passed on. Elegiac, beautiful, and touching, Swan Song deserves credit for centering the elderly gay experience, something not often seen in the cinema.

On Golden Pond features the perfect pairing: Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda. The two Hollywood legends are an elderly couple who spend a particularly magical summer at their lake home, where Fonda’s Norman develops a remarkable friendship with Billy, the son of their daughter’s new boyfriend. Though On Golden Pond can sometimes veer a little into schmaltz, it has a good heart, and it’s also quite remarkable to watch two stars like Hepburn and Fonda finally get to appear in a film together.

When a film brings together the likes of Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field, the results are going to be spectacular, as in 80 for Brady.  The film’s story is a simple one about a group of four friends who decide to go watch Tom Brady play in the Super Bowl. However, there’s true magic to it, and the actresses are all at the top of their game, their comedic energies blending into a perfect synergy. It’s an ideal light-hearted comedy that shows how life doesn’t end just because one gets old.

Ruth Gordon gives one of the best performances of her long career in Harold and Maude, in which she plays a septuagenarian who develops a strange but remarkably mature relationship with the much younger Harold (played by Bud Cort). It’s a decidedly strange movie, with bits of black comedy, drama, and even satire woven into its story. At its heart, though, it’s a film about the importance of taking joy in life, regardless of age. There’s sorrow in the film, to be sure, but it is ultimately a celebration of life itself.

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were undoubtedly two of their generation's most successful and iconic actresses. In Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? they strike sparks with each other as sisters, Jane and Blanche, whose best screen days are behind them and who spend their days locked in a bitter but symbiotic relationship. Part bitter melodrama and part horror, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? is an enduring testament to the remarkable skills of its two lead actresses, and the making of the film (and the rivalry between Crawford and Davis) even serves as the plot for the first season of the TV series Feud. 

Lillian Gish and Bette Davis were major stars of their generations, and in the 1980s, both were nearing the end of their lives. This gives their performance as sisters in 1987’s The Whales of August a unique poignancy, particularly as the two women try to reach a measure of reconciliation after years of bitterness. Even though it has never received quite as much recognition as their other works, it is nevertheless a notable film for both women and a testament to their endurance and willingness to work up until the end.

Starring renowned character actress June Squibb as the title character, Thelma focuses on a nonagenarian who sets out to get her money back from a pair of men who scammed her. Along the way, she recruits her good friend Ben (played by the late Richard Roundtree), and as her quest continues, she has to contend with her age and the way that everyone underestimates her. The film is a charming and very funny rumination on the perils and pleasures of aging, anchored by remarkable performances and the remarkable bond between Thelma and her grandson, Danny (played by Fred Hechinger).

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a true meeting of greatness. It includes some of their generation's most notable British actors, including Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton, and Tom Wilkinson. The film’s story is simple, focusing on a group of retired British citizens who have moved to India, but it has a great deal of heart. It skillfully blends comedy and drama, joy and sadness, and, as if all of this wasn’t enough, it also features a remarkable performance from Dev Patel. 

The Oscar-winning Driving Miss Daisy  might be decidedly old-fashioned in its story and execution, but it still has its charms. Many of these derive from the unmistakable on-screen chemistry between Jessica Tandy’s Miss Daisy and Morgan Freeman’s Hoke — the former a retired schoolteacher and the latter the man hired to be her chauffeur. Though it may not always be subtle, the film uses the bond between these two older people to explore racism in the US.

Based on the beloved novel by Fannie Flagg, Fried Green Tomatoes is in part about the unusual but deep friendship that emerges between Kathy Bates’ Evelyn Couch and Jessica Tandy’s Ninny Threadgoode. The latter regales the former with the story about the extraordinary friendship (and possible relationship) between her sister-in-law, Idgie Threadgoode, and Ruth Jamison. Poignant and funny, Fried Green Tomatoes remains a powerful film about the extraordinary power of the bonds between and among women, no matter their generation or age.

Helen Mirren has long been seen as one of the best actresses of her generation, and in The Queen,  she gives one of her truly astounding performances. As the title suggests, she plays none other than Queen Elizabeth II, who finds her reign turned upside down in the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death. Mirren endows the elderly monarch with a regal grace. Still, remarkably, she also gives audiences a nuanced view of the woman behind the mask, showing how the late Elizabeth sometimes struggled to reckon with the changed nature of the world and the monarchy itself.