Ride Or Die review – Hannah Waddingham’s big comedy is your pre-menopausal dream TV show | TV and radio

THannah Waddingham’s profound coolness is such that, I suspect, she could convince most of us to get into a burning car if she wanted to. So selling viewers on the ridiculous premise of Ride Or Die is only the work of the moment. Waddingham plays Whiptail, a deadly assassin for the past 20 years whose work has recently become more attention-grabbing than her bosses like. Octavia Spencer (who holds a high-profile comedic place in my heart for her small role as Tracy Morgan’s nemesis on 30 Rock alone) is Debbie’s best friend. Known as Judith, a forensic accountant, Debbie Whiptail has no idea that behind the woman she relies on for laughter, emotional support, and notes about the latest book club book she hasn’t read is a trained killer.

Debbie is married to David (Jamie Parker), a politician, and she is the gentle force behind his throne. It has shaped and facilitated his personal and professional life over the past 25 years, and he is now on track to become the next Prime Minister.

Both women’s lives are thrown into chaos at the same time. Whiptail’s boss Sam (Calam Lynch, a fine performance as an inexperienced youth) calls her in to discuss upper management’s concerns about her cavalier approach to recent jobs. “Is it because you’re 50?” he says with misleading kindness. He’s heard that women that age can take up acting, and pays her a Patek Philippe watch as a retirement gift “if you want it.” Or she can do the next task perfectly and keep working. Quite understandably, Whiptail is treated well by Waddingham, throwing the watch to the nearest homeless person and breaking into his employer’s headquarters to find the manager (Bill Nighy), and then Waddingham goes after him as well. However, in the end, she reluctantly agrees to dispose of a mobster named Billy Donovan (Ed Skrein) by poisoning him (“Coward! Where’s the showmanship?”) at a charity gala.

Debbie and David are at the party as well. On the way there, David cheerfully announced that he wanted a divorce. “We had good innings! Chin up, don’t make a scene.” Debbie takes a tequila drink while Whiptail, having failed to secretly poison Billy, begins improvising her way to an alternative death. She loses her goal but finds a bloodbath caused by someone else. David is one of many dead, and a satirical postcard has been left for Whiptail to find. Now she must get the paralyzed Debbie to safety – the moment when Waddingham punches one of her attackers without breaking stride will live on inside me forever – and practice that WTF going on. As should Debbie.

Like I say, ridiculous. But a lot of fun. It’s all based on Waddingham and Spencer’s chemistry and it’s a thing of beauty. They convince as friends. Specifically, they convince as middle-aged friends who have been friends for a very long time. They belly laugh together. They have special jokes. They just get each other. When Debbie discovers Judith’s secret life, it’s not murder that concerns her as much as betrayal. When she spontaneously delivers her burgers to Judith, she wants to know how real their friendship can be.

It’s a sign of Ride Or Die’s success that you don’t realize until you’re done with how weird it is. Two 50s actors playing 50s roles that allow them to be both funny and dramatic heroes? Is this using their ages not as a discussion point but as a tool to spin the story and elevate ridiculous oldness into a light-hearted commentary on the state of middle-aged women? Debbie and Judith find the world turning against them, assuming their shortcomings, and rejecting all evidence to the contrary, forcing them into hiding. It will resonate with anyone who uses HRT patches and habitually wonders who in the group of people who deserves it will be killed off next. The only real difference between us and Judith is that we are not skilled enough to follow through.

As the duo investigate who is manipulating Whiptail and who killed David and why, there are action scenes galore (and in Waddingham we have, for once, a woman who truly seems to be a danger to others), plenty of laughs, and some tender and emotional moments that bring the whole thing to life as the central duo’s friendship gradually deepens after their impending breakup, and now that Debbie knows everything. There is a parallel joy in watching two actors motivate each other and throw themselves into rare and unexpected roles that deserve and elevate their talents. It’s the erotic comedy adventure of your pre-menopausal dreams, but one everyone can enjoy. Get Waddingham. You know you want it.