Ellen Burstyn is Luminescent in Queen Bees

As some of us grow older, many look upon that chapter as a beginning to the end.  However, it’s actually one of the best chapters to live out.  By this time, we have grown wiser, learned from our mistakes and take nothing for granted.  After losing her husband, Helen (Ellen Burstyn) has become accustomed to living alone wihtin a stone’s throw from her daughter  Laura (Elizabeth Mitchell) and grandson Peter (Matthew Barnes).  After all, having Peter closeby to check in on her comes in real handy as she consistently locks herself out of the house.  After a kitchen blaze forces Helen to temporarily relocate while kitchen remodeling and demolitions are underway, she finds herself at Pine Grove.

What’s most endearing about this story written by Donald Martin is that it reminds audiences life doesn’t come crashing to an end just because one has grown into senior status.   For many there is a revitalized awakening that occurs and you either embrace it or grow bitter knowing the inevitable is lurking around the corner.  Martin’s jokes are hilarious with lines describing the Queen Bees as “mean girls with medical alert bracelets” or the whole monologue from the incredulously hysterical Loretta Devine (Sally) as she discusses her TaTa towel with Helen to get a handle on her ‘sweaty boobs.”  We’re also reminded that a home is more than a commodity, a building or a piece of property…it’s memories. Or how losing a love one can bring a family closer or tear them apart.  Most importantly how love can be found wheter you are 14 or 100 years in age.

With a cast chock full of legends like Ann-Margret, Jane Curtin, James Caan, Ellen Burstyn and the incomparable Loretta Devine, Queen Bees will serve as a wake-up call on realizing it’s never too late to find friends, love and take risks and 80 becomes the new 18. Directed by Michael Lembeck,  Queen Bees is available in theatres and on demand via Universal Pictures on June 11th.