It struck me recently that all the movies I’ve seen recently have starred women—in two cases, women over 60.

Hello, My Name is Doris is the closest to a current release, and I did see it at the theatre. Doris, played by Sally Field, lives on Staten Island in the home of her recently deceased mother, whom she’d cared for many years. When she meets the handsome, newly hired art director at work, John (played by Max Greenfield), she develops an almost instant crush. Aided by the 13-year-old daughter of one her friends, she inches her way into his life, with an initially feigned by finally honest appreciation of the same music. Surely this can never be more than a friendship? But Doris can’t help hoping…

I appreciated this film’s rare recognition that an older woman can still have desires. And it is fun watching Doris and John’ friendship develop. Though courtship remains a long shot, Doris blossoms. She’s better able to cope with the other stresses in her life and ultimately get her life on a new trajectory. You can’t help rooting for this woman.

Hello, My Name is Doris trailer

By contrast, Ricki, from Meryl Streep’s Ricki and the Flash (2015), decided to pursue her dreams and passions long before the film’s start—even though this meant leaving a husband and three children. Her hopes of becoming a rock star were not realized, but she’s almost making a living performing in a house band, supplemented by cashier job at a health foods store.

Ricki returns to visit the family she hasn’t seen in years after her ex-husband (Kevin Kline) informs her that her daughter (Mamie Gummer, Streep’s daughter) has become suicidal over the collapse of  her marriage. The family has moved on to a different world than the one Ricki inhabits: upper class and straitlaced. The degree varies, but everyone in the family is a little hostile toward their absentee  mother.

I didn’t think this movie was quite as original or successful as Doris, but I still enjoyed it. That music played a prominent role didn’t hurt. The relative realism of the start is somewhat undermined by the determination to make this a feel-good movie. But it is nice to feel good. (And it was fun to see Rick Springfield as Ricki’s boyfriend / guitarist.)

Ricki and The Flash trailer

Far from the Madding Crowd (2015) is about a young woman in Victorian times, Bathsheba Everdeen (Cary Mulligan), who has a refreshing independent streak.  She has no need of a husband, she declares, and this proves true when she inherits her own farm. But this doesn’t men from trying to woo her—and from a modern perspective, it’s almost hilarious how marriage proposals are offered without much preamble, let alone anything like a first date.

At any rate, through the course of this film Bathsheba has three suitors. That she doesn’t always choose wisely among them is disappointing, but admittedly, pretty much necessary to create drama. This is a gorgeous-looking movie, with typically great British acting. I can’t compare it to either the Thomas Hardy novel or the earlier film version, having not read or seen either. But it certainly wasn’t bad viewing after a weekend of appalling current events.

Far from the Madding Crowd trailer