Movie Review: 'Book Club'

Book Club (2018)

Directed by: Bill Holderman

Written by: Bill Holderman and Erin Simms

Starring: Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, Andy Garcia, Don Johnson,  Richard Dreyfuss, Ed Begley Jr., Wallace Shawn, Alicia Silverstone, Katie Aselton


Sharon: If women our age were meant to have sex God wouldn't do what he does to our bodies.
Vivian: Speak for yourself.
Sharon: Well, that was not God, that was Dr. Nazaria.

Q: What do you get when you put a first-time director, four legendary leading ladies, a supporting cast of A-list actors, and a somewhat flimsy plot centered on four friends who end up dissecting a trashy "mommy porn" trilogy of novels together?

A: A sometimes unbelievable but nevertheless watchable romantic comedy about friendship, drinking lots of wine, and lots of bawdy dialogue delivered by a quartet of talented actresses. three of whom have earned Academy Awards.

The premise of Bill Holderman and Erin Simms' Book Club, like most in this genre, is simple. Four financially well-off sixty-something women, each one representing a different "relationship style." have been friends for over 40 years and bond over wine, chat about the changes in their lives and read and talk about books, usually naughty ones a la Erica Jong's Fear of Flying.   (Hence the title Book Club.)

The shenanigans in Book Club begin when the perpetually single and promiscuous hotelier Vivian (Jane Fonda) brings E.L. James' famously trashy Fifty Shades of Grey as the club's new book of the month. Much of the ensuing developments hinge on the reactions of the other three women to James' 2011 erotic romance novel and its two sequels, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, as well as the romantic challenges each of the Book Club members face in their so-called Golden Years.

In addition to Vivian, the club consists of:

• Sharon Meyers (Candice Bergen), a divorced federal judge who is tough as nails in her courtroom but is intimidated by the brave new world of online dating
• Diane (Diane Keaton), the recently-widowed mom of two adult daughters that seem obsessed with the notion that she's not capable of living on her own
• Carol Colby (Mary Steenburgen), a married chef - and the youngest member of the group - who's frustrated because she and her husband Bruce (Craig T. Nelson) have not been intimate since his retirement six months before the events in Book Club

Sharon: My son is engaged and my husband is in Maui with a tartlet named Cheryl.

Diane: Oh.

Sharon: I need a drink.

Carol: Your 'husband'?

Diane: You can't possibly still care about what Tom is doing.

Sharon: I don't care. But the guy gets seasick in a swimming pool. I mean, what the hell is he doing in Maui?

Vivian: Sounds like he's doing Cheryl in Maui.

Sharon: Oh, please. Who gets involved in a relationship at 67? I mean, what is the point?

Vivian: Oh, the point is to get laid. It's always the point.

Sharon: Don't make me sick.

Carol: Who still says, 'get laid'?

Diane: Who still has any interest?

Vivian: Ah, no, no, no, no, no. I am not gonna let us become those people.

Diane: What people are you talking about?

Vivian: You know what people. The people who stop living before they stop living.

Sharon: I haven't had sex since my divorce, and it's been the happiest 18 years of my life.

Vivian: What? That must be some kind of... record. I mean, what even happens to a vagina after 18 years?

Diane: You know, I think Werner Herzog did a documentary on that.

Carol: Yeah. It's called The Cave of Forgotten Dreams.

The 103-minute-long movie, which was released by Paramount Pictures in theaters last May and on home media three months later, follows the trials and tribulations of its four leading ladies as each one reacts to James' insanely successful (and famously trashy) Fifty Shades trilogy. They are joined on screen by a group of talented guys; in addition to Nelson, Book Club's roster of supporting males includes Richard Dreyfuss, Wallace Shawn, Andy Garcia, Ed Begley Jr.,  and Don Johnson. Two (Dreyfuss and Shawn) play the guys that Candice Bergen's Sharon meets on a dating site, Andy Garcia and Don Johnson have meatier roles as the love interests for Diane Keaton and Jane Fonda, respectively. 

Even though Book Club is frothy, shamelessly hokey, and has a traditional "all's well that ends well" denouement (the four main characters live in perfectly cared-for homes, have healthy bank accounts, and are in excellent health, and each one has a happy ending), it does touch upon themes that are relevant to the over-50 crowd. 

Vivian: I don't care what society says about women our age, sex must not be taken off the table.

Obviously, the main idea of Holderman and Simms' story can be encapsulated by the pithy expression "Just because there's snow in the roof it doesn't mean there's no fire in the furnace." We're never told how old Vivian, Sharon, Diane, and Carol are, exactly, although Diane at one point tells her airline pilot beau Mitchell (Garcia) that she was born in 1951. But much of the film gets its humor from the reality that, despite the notions of the under-40 crowd that makes up the majority of movie viewers, there is (sex) life after 50. 

Another issue - "helicopter children" - rears its head in Book Club when Diane's grown daughters Jill and Adrianne (Alicia Silverstone and Katie Aselton) insist on moving her to Scottsdale, Arizona, where they now live with their husbands. Like many Americans in their late 30s and early 40s, Jill and Adrianne worry that their recently-widowed mom may not be able to live independently after her husband's recent death. Their solution and Diane's reaction are handled with a light touch, but the situation reflects serious concerns and is one of the elements of dramatic tension in Book Club.

Book Club is aimed at a specific audience - women 35 and over - but it has elements that can be enjoyed by the men in their lives, especially those who are film buffs or fans of the leading ladies' earlier works. Holderman and Simms, who have worked on the producing and acting sides of Hollywood, add situations and sly cultural references that guys will relate to, as well as Easter eggs based on the lead actresses' most iconic roles. 

Book Club is probably not going to be a beloved classic of its genre a la When Harry Met Sally... but it is not without its charms. It has a great cast, witty banter, and is gorgeous to look at, thanks to the fine cinematography by British lensman Andrew Dunn (The Madness of King George, Gosford Park).  I give this one three out of five stars.