Lily Tomlin’s in full glory in ‘Grandma’

But with the film’s release by Sony Pictures Classics less than a week away, Weitz and Tomlin gave the general public a preview of the project Monday night at New York’s Film Society of Lincoln Center by discussing Grandma, its breakneck 19-day shoot, and Tomlin’s five-decade career in comedy. As the movie starts, Ellie coldly breaks up with her girlfriend (played by Judy Greer) and is met by her granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner) who desperately needs $600 dollars by sundown.

As Elle, Tomlin is Tomlin, which is to say great.

I specify “first” because Tomlin is back in the mix this year for her raw, funny, furious portrayal of the title character in Paul Weitz’s “Grandma“. Here she plays Ellie Reid, a misanthropic poet who is still mourning the death of her longtime partner. Tomlin fills out the role like a tree spreading its branches and roots, though she brings a superb lightness to it, too: Elle’s acidity often has a comic kick – for her, wisecracks aren’t just a defense mechanism but a means of surviving the worst. Elle herself is fairly broke, scraping by on a college writer-in-residence gig.

Elle is angry ” as we see in an unnervingly amusing mini-breakdown she has in a coffee shop ” but not at Sage. Elle’s the kind of obstinate flake who makes her credit cards into a wind chime rather than remain part of The System, so when her granddaughter Sage turns to her for help, the two embark on a day trip through Elle’s friendships, flaws, and convictions. “Just being with Lily, just watching her, even now, is extraordinary”. She’s also clearly at odds with her stressed, workaholic daughter, Judy (Marcia Gay Harden, pitch-perfect).

They also try Elle’s old friend Deathy (Laverne Cox, of Orange Is the New Black), a tattoo artist who can only offer a free tattoo. The scene is not to be missed.

Tomlin, at 75, is operating at full throttle, and she deserves that final shot, all alone. In confronting her past with Karl, Elle finally seems able to let go of mistakes she’s been feeling guilty about for nearly 50 years. In one of the better scenes, three generations of women come together for a moment ” very brief ” in which it becomes clear that even in the nuttiest families, there are bonds that supersede all that craziness.