"Grandma" is Lily Tomlin's tour de force... a tour through the culture wars with the force of a tough, canny veteran. Tomlin has never been better as the bitter, fiercely loyal, vulnerably sentimental matriarch Elle who will do almost anything to rescue her granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner).

How does one counter such cretinous refusals to treat women with respect? When logic and legislation fail, one can try coating sexual education with a healthy dose of humor and/or sarcasm.

The new film Grandma tells a story rare for American cinema: a lesbian of advanced years (Lily Tomlin), in mourning for her soul mate and on skittish footing with the much younger woman she's been seeing (Judy Greer), is suddenly thrust into an adventure involving her teenage granddaughter (Julia Garner) and an unwanted pregnancy.

Hollywood, it seems, wants to give Lily Tomlin an award. I'm all for it; she's been around a long time and has done consistently brilliant work. But if she gets an Oscar, it shouldn't be for her new movie, Grandma, which has been receiving rapturous reviews from just about everyone.

In her latest film After Words, she portrays a single woman in her forties who is at the end of her rope. She has a plan to end her life but delays it until after a trip to Costa Rica. Watching Harden go from a beaten plain Jane to a woman on the cusp of a wonderful life makes for grand movie entertainment.

Sorkin has the advantage of viewing reality in the rear-view mirror as he writes this show, so let me indulge in similar hindsight conclusion-making.