Book Club (2018) Review
8:06 AM
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Book Club is the directorial debut from Bill Holderman. The script is co-written by Holderman (A Walk in the Woods) and first-time writer Erin Simms. The cast includes Diane Keaton (Something's Gotta Give), Jane Fonda (Barbarella), Candice Bergen (Murphy Brown) and Mary Steenburgen (Last Vegas). "Four lifelong friends have their lives forever changed after reading 50 Shades of Grey in their monthly book club". Blatantly tailored to the older market, will a 19-year-old find any enjoyment in Book Club?
Bill Holderman's Book Club is almost guaranteed to please its target audience, though anybody under the age of 60 may not enjoy the 100-minute run-time. While Book Club is completely harmless, I found it dull, boring and painfully average. The story is predictable, the characters are lazily written and the acting is nothing spectacular. Book Club has some funny moments, but none that are worth paying the price of admission to see. Book Club is a disappointment; a film about a group of elderly ladies reading 50 Shades of Grey should either be ludicrous and terrible or wild and liberating; Book Club is neither.
Essentially, the 'book club' acts as a glue to link the lives of Diane (Keaton), Vivian (Fonda), Sharon (Bergen) and Carol (Steenburgen). Otherwise, Book Club functions a lot like Garry Marshall film (Valentine's Day, Mother's Day etc) - admittedly, Book Club is a better-made film than any of Marshall's ensemble flicks. However, just like New Year's Eve is the only thing that brings together Zac Efron's Paul and Michelle Pfeiffer's Ingrid, the 'book club' feels like the only reason these ladies know each other. Consequently, I never was fully convinced that these ladies were lifelong friends. The opening credits are used to outline the character traits of each member instead of explaining their memories as a group. Bad Moms (where the characters become friends during the film's run-time) has a better-written friendship group than this! The 'book club' is not even that crucial to the plot; it is simply a place where the characters reunite to discuss their lives (kind of like Sex and the City). Despite all of the qualities for an impressive female comedy being present, Holderman and Simms are unsuccessful in producing an impressive female comedy.
Not only do the writers fail to incorporate the 'book club' into the narrative in an inventive and meaningful way, the characters they create are unoriginal archetypes. There is Diane, the 'plain Jane' leader who has a fear of flying; Sharon, the rich and provocative cougar who has commitment issues; Vivian, the least womanly and most unruly one of the group who is trying to find a new partner; and Carol, the quieter one who is hungry for sex. While the character development could be much worse, it just felt like the writers created characters that were generic enough so that the audience could relate to at least one of them. I also find it hard to believe that such different women would be friends in real life. They are all white and middle class - this is clearly the commonality that brought them together (sarcasm).
The cast gives serviceable performances. In films like this, there is usually one actor who makes a bigger impression than everyone else: Tiffany Haddish in Girls Trip, Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids etc. However, there is no stand-out performance in Book Club. All of the ladies are likable and to their credit, this does not feel like a pay-cheque gig for any of them. It was actually quite refreshing to see a female comedy about older women. Keaton, Fonda, Bergen, and Steenburgen give performances that positively represent the older generation - they do not conform to stereotypes and somewhat show that age is just a number. Keaton's subplot sees her family treat her like a fragile old woman - there is a scene where Keaton is left in a shopping centre along with all of the cripple and weak elderly people. This was one of the few genuinely funny moments. Fonda's comedic timing was a little off at times - her reaction to her son's engagement did not get the laughs that were intended. Despite all giving functional performances, the chemistry between the cast is never strong enough for me to remember this foursome in the future. The cast could have saved Book Club, but unfortunately, the material limits these talented ladies.
I hoped Book Club would be a film about elderly women acting wild and unruly. It is actually a film about elderly women acting classy and enjoying later life...with a dash of sexual liberation courtesy of 50 Shades of Grey. For a film like this to be a memorable crowd-pleaser, it needed to take a stronger stance. Book Club is vanilla, plain, mediocre...or any word that describes anything ordinary. A film about classy women cannot remain classy if they are reading one of the trashiest books ever written. Book Club should have gone all the way. While this is a film about liberation, exploration, and freedom for the older generation, Holderman makes the film in such a pedestrian way - he goes down the easiest and most conservative route. For that reason, I find it hard to imagine that anyone under the age of 60 will enjoy this film.
Book Club was a film I was excited for...for all the wrong reasons. The trailers suggested that it would be one of the trashiest, unnecessary and dumb movies of the past few years. Book Club really isn't any of those things and is, therefore, one of the most disappointing films of 2018 yet. Holderman's directing is uninspired and his screenplay (with Simms) is just as prosaic. While a talented cast has been assembled, the material does not give them much room to impress. Fonda probably has the funniest moments but she also has a few comedy misses. Older women will love it. I feel sorry for anyone else who has to watch it though. This is a club that I will not be joining.
The cast gives serviceable performances. In films like this, there is usually one actor who makes a bigger impression than everyone else: Tiffany Haddish in Girls Trip, Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids etc. However, there is no stand-out performance in Book Club. All of the ladies are likable and to their credit, this does not feel like a pay-cheque gig for any of them. It was actually quite refreshing to see a female comedy about older women. Keaton, Fonda, Bergen, and Steenburgen give performances that positively represent the older generation - they do not conform to stereotypes and somewhat show that age is just a number. Keaton's subplot sees her family treat her like a fragile old woman - there is a scene where Keaton is left in a shopping centre along with all of the cripple and weak elderly people. This was one of the few genuinely funny moments. Fonda's comedic timing was a little off at times - her reaction to her son's engagement did not get the laughs that were intended. Despite all giving functional performances, the chemistry between the cast is never strong enough for me to remember this foursome in the future. The cast could have saved Book Club, but unfortunately, the material limits these talented ladies.
I hoped Book Club would be a film about elderly women acting wild and unruly. It is actually a film about elderly women acting classy and enjoying later life...with a dash of sexual liberation courtesy of 50 Shades of Grey. For a film like this to be a memorable crowd-pleaser, it needed to take a stronger stance. Book Club is vanilla, plain, mediocre...or any word that describes anything ordinary. A film about classy women cannot remain classy if they are reading one of the trashiest books ever written. Book Club should have gone all the way. While this is a film about liberation, exploration, and freedom for the older generation, Holderman makes the film in such a pedestrian way - he goes down the easiest and most conservative route. For that reason, I find it hard to imagine that anyone under the age of 60 will enjoy this film.
Book Club was a film I was excited for...for all the wrong reasons. The trailers suggested that it would be one of the trashiest, unnecessary and dumb movies of the past few years. Book Club really isn't any of those things and is, therefore, one of the most disappointing films of 2018 yet. Holderman's directing is uninspired and his screenplay (with Simms) is just as prosaic. While a talented cast has been assembled, the material does not give them much room to impress. Fonda probably has the funniest moments but she also has a few comedy misses. Older women will love it. I feel sorry for anyone else who has to watch it though. This is a club that I will not be joining.
50
/100
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