“Bonneville”—Great American roadtrip film for gals of a certain age

On a girls night out Rebecca and I wound our way through St. Louis’ Central West End…now sampling gelato at the new store where last year Ben and Jerry’s stood; now eating Vietnamese crepes at my favorite snack shop; and now…checking out the films at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel and finding that “Bonneville” started in just a few minutes.

“What’s it about?” We asked the pretty young thing staffing the ticket counter.

“Oh, three elderly ladies take a trip together.”

Stifling our giggles, Rebecca and I decided this was good enough for us. We proffered our money for tickets…and the Young Thing gave us the Senior Price, no questions asked.

We moved a discrete distance away from the ticket booth and gave way to the giggles overcoming us. Elderly ladies…out on a toot…that, apparently, was us, at 50 and 59.

It’s hard to imagine Jessica Lange (Arvilla Holden), Joan Allen and Kathy Bates—the three female buddy leads in “Bonneville” who hit the road across the West from Pacatello, Idaho to Santa Barbara…as “elderly.” Lange never looked more beautiful and there’s a fun romance in here that you just wouldn’t expect if the sterotypes were followed.

Arvilla’s 1966 Bonneville convertible enjoys the detours to Bryce Canyon and Las Vegas and such. Tom Skerritt and Christine Baranski also give fine performances in BONNEVILLE with considerable elan.