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| photo courtesy of theartsshelf.com |
Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen, Jane Fonda, and Mary
Steenburgen unite for the new comedy Book
Club. The movie tells the story of four long-time friends who keep up with
each other by way of a weekly book club. Each of the women finds herself dissatisfied
with a stagnant love life, but that all changes when they select Fifty Shades of Grey for their next
book. Emboldened by the book’s steamy story, they embark on new adventures in
friendship and romance.
As much as I resent the continuing influence of the Fifty Shades of Grey series in popular
culture, it’s hard to bear this movie any ill will. Book Club certainly isn’t a sophisticated movie in any sense of the
word—it’s not about to win any screenwriting awards—but it makes for fun and breezy
entertainment, especially for its target audience (which, admittedly, does not
include myself).
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| photo courtesy of vanityfair.com |
Commercials for the movie do it a disservice. None of the
jokes featured in the marketing are particularly funny, and you could easily get
the impression that Book Club would
be a tasteless, first-world-problems kind of an affair. But the movie wisely
keeps the wine-swirling to a minimum, and it generates a good many laughs,
thanks in large part to the performances of its all-star, veteran cast.
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| photo courtesy of variety.com |
The actresses can still command scenes—comedy or otherwise—and
it’s a delight to watch them do it. Diane Keaton gets the most screen time (her
mini-storyline features a Godfather Part
III reunion with Andy Garcia, of all people), but it’s Bergen who really
steals the show, firing off raunchy wisecracks with the best of them. Seeing
what these leading ladies can do with such goofy raw material, it’s hard not to
wish they were headlining more (and better) projects.
Watch the trailer here.
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| photo courtesy of yahoo.com |
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