Book Club Review

Book Club is funny and keeps you laughing the whole time. The film was written and directed by Bill Holderman (A Walk in the Woods, The Old Man & the Gun). For being a newer director Holderman does an excellent job putting the movie together, he also did good work on writing for the movie.

Book Club follows four lifelong friends Diane (Diane Keaton) a recently widowed lady, Vivian (Jane Fonda) a very successful hotel owner, Sharon (Candice Bergen) a Supreme Court judge, and Carol (Mary Steenburgen) a happily married women who feels that her marriage is falling apart. For this month’s book club the ladies decide to read 50 Shades of Grey, upon reading the book, our four friends decide to change their lives.

The skills of these actresses were great; it makes sense that they have five Academy Award wins between them and numerous further nominations. They all interacted well with each other. The best performance belongs to Candice Bergen. She played the non-dating, haven’t seen a guy in ten years role very well.

I felt that the best couple interaction was with Mary Steenburgen and Craig T. Nelson who plays her husband Bruce in the film. They had the funniest segments together, and my favourite scene from the whole movie. Steenburgen does an excellent job at trying to bring life back to her stale marriage.

I feel that the whole concept of the film is just silly and not really needed. It’s like they wanted to just ride the 50 Shades train, but I personally felt that they should just leave that train alone; it’s just beating a dead horse. Each lady has their own problems, and things that they are trying to deal with. Book Club does an excellent job showing how not only 50 Shades, but the book club itself, helps the ladies gets through difficult times. It just so happens that this particular book helps them realize it better. It just so happens to make the ladies change their lives.

The Conclusion

Book Club features an outstanding cast comprised of Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen and a ton of supporting cast. The leads have a ton of awards and nominations between them. So if you’re looking for good acting, where they seem to care about how they appear on screen you won’t be disappointed.

The film is funny and will keep you laughing the whole time. Although I feel the film didn’t need to made and it’s just trying to live of the 50 Shades train, if you want to watch a funny movie focused on strong females, this movie is for you.

Book Club Review at Theater with Standard Viewing
Screening Provided by Paramount

Rating Overall: 6.6