Delayed Reaction: On Golden Pond

The Pitch: Katherine Hepburn and Henry Fonda do some acting in their 70s.

At some point, it's just running up the numbers, right? On Golden Pond is basically a victory lap for Hepburn and Fonda's careers. Hepburn had already tied the record for most Oscar wins (at 3, with Ingird Bergman, and Walter Brennan - but they did it with some wins for supporting roles. Hepburn was always Lead) and secured most nominations ever from Bette Davis with her nomination and win for The Lion in the Winter. Fonda hadn't won a competitive Oscar, but the year before On Golden Pond, the Academy gave him the "Peter O'Toole"*. From a legacy perspective, there's not much reason for On Golden Pond to exist. It does though, and Hepburn and Fonda both picked up Oscars for it.

*That's the name I give to an honorary Oscar given to someone who hasn't won a competitive Oscar, deserves one, and the Academy thinks is too old to get another chance .

What's a little hard to believe is that this was the second highest grossing movie of 1981. It made more than Superman II! If we want to play the "adjusted for inflation" game, it did better than 2 Harry Potter films, Suicide Squad, and Iron Man 2. That's crazy when you consider that this is a quiet film about a retired couple at their summer home by the lake. To be fair, that's fitting with the trend in the 80s. After all, Terms of Endearment came in second in 1983 and Rain Man won the 1988 box office. The "Oscar Boost" was real back then. The closest modern example to that I can find is American Sniper being the highest grossing film of 2014, and that's a completely different case.
And the film is fine. Hepburn and Fonda are great. Their relationship is a delight. It feels worn in and familiar. I had no trouble believing they'd been together for decades. I was surprised to realize that Hepburn and Fonda hadn't even met before this movie. I'd've assumed they'd worked together at some point based on how comfortable they are in the film. The only thing I didn't buy was Jane Fonda's story. The drama she had with her father (the elder Fonda) felt tacked on and too melodramatic. Otherwise, this was a perfectly nice and quiet film.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend