What better person to take to the “Book Club” movie than one of your own Book Club members. My friend Carolyn and I did not come away with a new list of books to read, but rather enjoyed a lot of laughs and feel good moments. Ninety-nine percent of the audience was women; the only two men most likely got dragged there, but seemed to be enjoying it.
The cast of superstar, spitfire characters includes Candice Bergen, 72, Jane Fonda, 80, Diane Keaton, 72, and Mary Steenburgen, 65. I only mention their ages because these woman still look and act amazing. As a federal judge who has been divorced for 18 years, Bergen is more than hesitant to get back into the dating pool and thinks she is content with work and her cat. Her computer dating caper, with Richard Dreyfuss, does not turn out the way she expects. Fonda is a confident hotel owner who stays single to keep from getting her heart broken. When she reunites with former flame Don Johnson, she has to decide if she wants to turn her life in a new direction. Keaton is a widower whose children think she is fragile and are trying to get her to move in with them. Her happenstance relationship with Andy Garcia gives her a new lease on life. In a long term marriage, Steenburgen wants to rekindle the spark with her husband, Craig T. Nelson, and after shenanigans involving Viagra, they find their way back to each other.
Their book choices and lives were 50 shades of dull, so they decided to read the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy. The first book got them thinking, the second book emboldened them, and even though they were at different stages of their lives, they found what they were looking for by the third book. They ended up livening up their lives by spicing up their book club. Every character in this movie is likeable, but our personal favorite pairing was Keaton and Garcia. When she gets caught reading 50 Shades of Grey next to him on the airplane, she tries to infer that she was reading Moby Dick. My friend Carolyn says, “If I was reading that book, it would be in a brown cover, so no one would know.”
This movie begs the question – Is being in a book club really about the books you read or about the relationships you form in the group? I know for me personally, my book club friends have supported me through the good and not so good times. We are there for each other to offer advice when needed, just listen if that’s what called for, or share a carton of ice cream with multiple spoons. Book clubs are great because everyone brings their own chapter to the group. I have been exposed to books that I normally wouldn’t gravitate to, but have thoroughly enjoyed expanding my horizons. Interestingly enough, Keaton, Bergen and Fonda are all published authors themselves.
The movie highlights that we all want to be young and vibrant, no matter what age we are, and even though this boasts an older cast, people of all ages will definitely appreciate the humor that kept our audience laughing nonstop and clapping at the end.
Movie times: click here
Genre: Comedy
Director: Bill Holderman
Written By: Bill Holderman and Erin Simms
Actors: Candice Bergen, Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen, Richard Dreyfuss, Andy Garcia, Don Johnson, Craig T. Nelson
Running Time: 1 hour 44 minutes
Rating: PG-13
