QUEEN BEES

Name: QUEEN BEES
Item: QUEEN BEES
Author: Tess Farrand

"Very Funny Geriatric Comedy of Moving on and Finding Love"

Family Content: -2 Extreme caution for older teenagers and adults.

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

In the comedy QUEEN BEES, Helen accidentally sets fire to her home. So, her daughter and grandson reluctantly convince Helen to move to the Pine Grove retirement community. Helen observes that Pine Grove isn’t unlike high school; there are popular people and outcasts. The top popular residents of Pine Grove are a group of women the community calls “The Queen Bees.” For a while, Helen is content moving at her own pace, but once she gets invited to an exclusive bridge game, Helen shows the Queen Bees she can hang with the best of them. Can her new friends and a new romance snap Helen out of her bitterness?

Despite some jumpy pacing and predictability, QUEEN BEES is laugh-out-loud funny and touching, with great acting by its veteran cast. The movie has a strong moral, redemptive worldview. It stresses caring for the elderly, kindness leading to companionship, saying “I’m sorry,” and friendship. This positive content is marred by about 20 obscenities and profanities, a light New Age comment, some innuendoes, and brief marijuana use. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution for QUEEN BEES.

Content:

(BB, C, FR, Ho, LL, V, S, N, DD, MM): Dominant Worldview and Other: Strong moral, light redemptive worldview stresses caring for the elderly, kindness leading to companionship, saying “I’m sorry,” and friendship and a comment thanking God, but a massage therapist makes a New Age comment about a woman having good energy, and there’s a quick comment about a woman’s husband leaving her for another man, and a lesbian joke in two scenes

Foul Language:

One Jesus profanity, 10 obscenities (mainly “d” and “b” words), and nine light profanities, including one “for God’s sake,” plus elderly woman mentions she wears adult diapers, and women discuss breaking sweat

Violence:

Woman accidentally sets her home on fire, but no one gets injured, and woman kicks a man in his private parts

Sex:

A woman mentions Viagra, older man gestures about sex, elderly woman jokes about a popular striptease performance, elderly characters play strip poker, a quip comment about a man leaving his wife for another man, and some other sexual innuendoes

Nudity:

Male swimming instructor appears in swim trunks, and elderly ladies admire his body, and older women appear in swimsuits

Alcohol Use:

Social drinking and some conversations about types of alcohol

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No tobacco use, but marijuana is smoked; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Occasional gossip, minor character mentions he’s divorced, a clique of elderly women are sometimes rude and a little mean, trickery, some dysfunctional family portrayals, and brief poker playing.

More Detail:

Picture this – massages, speed dating, an indoor pool, prepared meals, and a lovely place to lay one’s head. Sounds appealing, right? Well, it does to most everyone, except Helen, who doesn’t want to move into this all-inclusive retirement community.

In the comedy QUEEN BEES, Helen accidentally sets fire to her home. Helen’s daughter and grandson reluctantly convince Helen to move to the Pine Grove retirement community. Once there, Helen observes that Pine Grove isn’t unlike high school; there are the popular people and the outcasts. The top popular residents in Pine Grove are a group of women the community calls “The Queen Bees.” For a while, Helen is content moving at her own place, but once she gets invited to an exclusive bridge game, Helen shows the Queen Bees that she can hang with the best of them.

Shortly after Helen starts to get settled, Frank moves into Pine Grove and starts to pursue her. Frank volunteers for all the same activities as Helen and doesn’t exactly shy away from her feisty behavior. Meanwhile, Helen remains adamant she’ll only be at Pine Grove for a month, until her insurance works out the home renovations from the fire. Helen’s grandson and daughter, though, tell her otherwise. This news bums out Helen to no end.

Thankfully, the Queen Bees and Frank encourage Helen that life at Pine Grove isn’t so bad. Will Helen succumb to their encouragement, or remain embittered about her new life?

QUEEN BEES is laugh-out-loud funny and can be enjoyed by all ages, but older viewers will especially find it hilarious. Also, the dialogue is very witty. As the two lovers, iconic stars Ellen Burstyn (THE EXORCIST and ALICE DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE ) and James Caan (BRIAN’S SONG, THE GODFATHER, ELF, and CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS) make a dynamic pair. For all its humor, QUEEN BEES also has some sobering comments about aging that add to the movie’s appeal and approachability. In terms of quality, though, QUEEN BEES seems a little predictable and struggles with a jumpy flow, but those are the only really noticeable flaws. QUEEN BEES functions similarly to the 2019 movie POMS or lewder cousin BOOK CLUB with Jane Fonda or even IT’S COMPLICATED with Meryl Strep.

QUEEN BEES has a strong moral, light redemptive worldview. It stresses caring for the elderly, kindness leading to companionship, saying “I’m sorry,” and friendship. There’s also a comment thanking God. One character makes an off-the-cuff New Age comment. Also, an elderly woman mentions one of her former husbands left her for a man. Regrettably, QUEEN BEES also has some other sexual innuendo, brief marijuana use and about 20 obscenities and profanities. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises strong or extreme caution, depending on the viewer’s maturity level and age.

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Quality:

- Content: -2