“Moving On”, which is currently available on Netflix in South Korea, is enjoyable whenever it is driven by the good chemistry between two legendary actresses at the center of the film. They are more than 80 at present, but these two great actresses have steadily and productively moved on during several recent years as before, and we are certainly lucky to see them still working, though the movie itself sometimes falters despite their fun and touching efforts on the screen.

Jane Fonda, who looks a bit dowdier than usual here in the film, plays Claire, an old woman who is about to go to visit LA for dealing with her old personal matter to settle. More than 50 years ago, she was raped by the husband of one of her close friends, and she told no one about that except a very few persons. Now her friend recently passed away, and she is going to confront and kill that scumbag at last while attending her friend’s upcoming funeral and wake in LA.

Of course, things do not go that well for Claire after she eventually arrives at the funeral. Right from when she encountered Howard (Malcolm McDowell) again, she flatly tells him that she is going to kill him sooner or later, but, not so surprisingly, she does not know whether she really wants that – and how she will actually do that. Besides, a lot of time has passed, and that man seems changed to some degree after getting quite older just like her, though his presence still makes her quite uncomfortable.

Claire’s docile awkwardness is contrasted with the late arrival of Evelyn (Lily Tomlin), another close friend of Claire who was quite close to both Claire and their deceased friend in the past. She sees right through how superficial the words from Howard feel when he attempts to say nice things about his married life during that following wake, and that is why she comes to reveal to everyone at the spot something quite personal between her and her deceased friend.

Meanwhile, Claire remains indecisive about whether she will really kill him or not – even when a certain tool for killing comes handy to her at one point. As she becomes more and more hesitant, she comes across her ex-husband Ralph (Richard Roundtree), who was also invited to the funeral just like Claire and Evelyn. They have not seen each other for many years since their rather painful divorce which incidentally happened not long after that rape incident, but, though they have moved on in each own way since that, Claire cannot help but feel another chance for romance, and the same thing can be said about Ralph. As a matter of fact, he even invites her to a little dinner at his residence just for old time’s sake.

As Evelyn and Claire try to handle Claire’s old personal issue together, the screenplay by director/writer/co-producer Paul Weitz, who has been more serious in his recent outputs compared to when he and his brother Chris made “American Pie” (1999) together many years ago, naturally swings back and forth between comedy and drama, and Fonda is effortless along with her co-star as they pull and push each other along the story. Lily Tomlin, who has built a remarkable career of her own just like Fonda during last six decades and recently worked with Fonda in Netflix TV series “Grace and Frankie”, deftly functions as a no-nonsense counterpoint to her co-star, and they also did a good job of conveying us to an old history between their characters even though we do not get to know that much about the past between Claire and Evelyn.

However, the movie unfortunately stumbles during its last act when Evelyn and Claire seem finally ready to confront Howard. While Claire surely comes to let out a bit more of her pain and frustration, the resulting dramatic moment between her and Howard somehow feels tame, and the following finale is quite contrived without much emotional impact on the whole. While Fonda and Tomlin do try to elevate their materials as much as possible, their efforts are ultimately limited by the rather flawed storytelling of the film, and that is quite a shame to say the least.

In addition, the movie brings two equally legendary actors for supporting Tomlin and Fonda, but they are not particularly utilized well as simply demanded to fill their respective spots. Although his role is more or less than a possible love interest, Richard Roundtree, who has been known for his charismatic lead performance in Gordon Parks’ “Shaft” (1971), and sadly passed way a few months ago, fills his functional character with enough life and presence, and you may enjoy a low-key romantic heat generated between him and Fonda later in the story. Malcolm McDowell, who has been and will always be remembered for his chillingly striking performance in Stanley Kubrick’s ever-disturbing masterwork “A Clockwork Orange” (1971), shows here that he can still exude the intense aura of vicious bad boy with his piercing blue eyes, and one of the major disappointments in the film is that it gives his character an ending which feels a bit too easy in my humble opinion.

In conclusion, “Moving On” is fairly watchable thanks to not only Fonda and Tomlin but also the solid supporting turns from Roundtree and McDowell, but it is still one or two steps from Weitz’ more satisfying recent works such as “Grandma” (2015), a little overlooked gem which incidentally has one of the best performances in Tomlin’s long and illustrative acting career. To be frank with you, I would rather recommend “Grandma” first, but I will not stop you from watching “Moving On” if you just want to see all those four great performers appearing in one movie.