Poms (2019) * * *

Directed by:  Zara Hayes

Starring:  Diane Keaton, Jacki Weaver, Pam Grier, Bruce McGill, Celia Weston, Rhea Perlman, Phyllis Somerville, Alisha Boe

You would think a story of a group of women living in a retirement community becoming cheerleaders would be ungainly and aiming for cheap laughs.   You would also be surprised at its charm and its heart.    It has poignant moments, and clearly defines how important it is to have a purpose in life.

We meet Martha (Keaton), a retired schoolteacher sick with terminal cancer, selling off her belongings in New York and moving to a Georgia retirement community where she hopes to live out the rest of her limited days in peace.    Her plans are quickly upended by her overly friendly neighbor Sheryl (Weaver), who despite having her grandson live with her and still relatively sexually active, still wishes to have the introverted Martha as a friend.    Sheryl tries too hard at first, and succeeds in pushing Martha further into her shell, but the two soon hit it off.    Martha wanted to be a cheerleader in high school, but never had the chance, and Sheryl suggests they form a cheerleading club at the stuffy community in which the security guards and a nosy busybody (Weston) seem to rule the roost.

Sheryl and Martha recruit a few other women who long to break free from their humdrum daily lives and attempt to learn to be cheerleaders, which gets off to a disastrous start at a local high school pep rally.    Their performance goes viral, leading to humiliation at first, but also an ally in Chloe (Boe), one of the popular high school cheerleaders who at first mocks the elderly women, but then joins them after her friends post the video online.   Chloe eschews her own popularity and cheerleading team leadership to befriend Sheryl, Martha, and company, and the results are warm and comforting.

Martha's time is more finite than the others, and her trips to the bathroom to vomit are sad reminders of that.    She keeps her illness from her friends, until she can't anymore, and watching how she and Sheryl bond over this news is the best scene in the movie.   Keaton may have top billing, but Jacki Weaver provides the most infectious energy.    We can't help but like her, and we root for the ladies as they work their hardest to make their mark in a younger person's game.    As Poms plays itself out to its inevitable conclusion, and the subplots tidy themselves up nicely, we find we can't help but like the movie as well.   It grows on you with its sweetness.