Wild Oats (2016)

Directed by: Andy Tennant | 91 minutes | action, adventure, comedy, drama | Actors: Shirley MacLaine, Jessica Lange, Demi Moore, Ptolemy Slocum, Colin Walker, Robert Collier, Geraldine Singer, Susan Parker, Vincent De Paul, Rachel Deacon, Lynne Ashe, Ben Temple, Marnee Carpenter, Morgan Deare, Chad Gall, Miles Mussenden Eileen Grubba, Jillian Batherson, Howard Hesseman, Stephanie Beacham, Adam LeFevre, Antonio Ibáñez, Frank Feys, Billy Connolly

Almost everyone is familiar with such a situation where you receive an amount of money that does not actually belong to you. Whether the cashier in the supermarket is distracted and gives you back twenty, while you paid with ten or whether an amount has been credited to your account by mistake… There are of course people who like such a financial advantage and pretend that their nose bleeds, but luckily there are also people who prevent the cashier from running out of cash in the evening and say it honestly. In ‘Wild Oats’ it is such an amount that it has to come to light.

Eva’s husband (Shirley MacLaine) has passed away, leaving her a modest life insurance policy. But when the check arrives, it turns out that it has a few extra zeros on it. Instead of $50,000, Eva gets $5 million. Initially, she only wants to put the money in her bank account until the company finds out about the mistake and asks for the amount back, but when her best friend Maddie (Jessica Lange) persuades her to enjoy the money now, she quickly gives in. But the insurance company soon realizes the mistake and sends a detective to the retired lady.

Eva and Maddie are now in the Canary Islands and are having a great time with cocktails on the sun-drenched terrace. Before long, they catch the attention of Chandler (Billy Connolly), who invites the ladies to dinner. Although Eva doesn’t like his advances, Maddie is quite fond of him. In the restaurant, however, it appears that Chandler suffers from a mild form of dementia, and suddenly the spark jumps with Eva. You don’t have to be an observant viewer to see where this ship is stranded.

For every thing that works in ‘Wild Oats’ (the pleasant chemistry between veterans MacLaine and Lange, the funny scene where Eva and Maddie struggle to get through the insurance company’s options menu) there are at least so many elements that don’t work. Almost all of those negative points can be traced back to the scenario. Many of the characters’ actions and statements are at odds with how such a situation usually works. Who tells a crying woman at a funeral that she might as well go home? And who says during that same memorial service that he actually has to go back to the office? If you don’t have time to go, don’t come, but don’t leave halfway. In addition, the course of the story is too easy to predict and some jokes are already mature before they are repeated three times. If you easily get over these problems, ‘Wild Oats’ is a bite-sized film with fine, energetic actors who deserved a better and, above all, funnier screenplay. So seen, so forgotten.