directed by Bill Holderman
starring Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen,
Andy Garcia, Don Johnson, Craig T. Nelson
Book Club is a movie that seems to be about the freedom, liberation, and wisdom of women of a certain age (over 60). With its casting of fabulous-looking senior actresses Jane Fonda (the most senior, at 80), along with blithe spirits Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen, we have a powerhouse foursome of actresses who could pull off just about any script, never mind one bent on convincing audiences that age ain't nothin' but a number. These ladies look fit as a fiddle and ready for love (just ignore the fact that Candice seems stuffed to bursting in her stiff suits and that Diane Keaton's love of scarves in any weather belies either a pathological aversion to drafts or some serious wattle-neck).
Set in the sun-dappled upper-class enclave of Santa Monica, California, with a few side trips to upper-class enclave Scottsdale, Arizona (and the gorgeous vistas of Sedona), Book Club takes place in its own lovely and rarefied world of privilege, the plot floating along effortlessly on a tide of the wine the ladies continually guzzle down. During the opening credits, the film quickly short-hands the friendships and careers of these four friends, who are now incredibly successful (Fonda's character owns a major hotel); through the decades they have been gathering religiously for their book club meeting. The film would have us believe that their reading of the steamy S&M-light book series "Fifty Shades of Grey" unleashes some new level of sexual healing in their lives. This premise only serves as a shameless plug for the book series; thankfully, the script doesn't delve too deeply into the plot or characters of those books, but only uses them as a jumping off point. I think it would have been more effective to spoof the "Fifty Shades" and have the women read a series with an ersatz name that viewers would clearly be able to identify as a "Fifty Shades" clone. That would have been funnier and less bald-faced ad. And as it is, the book club meetings look like an excuse for the quartet to spout off about their lives and down copious amounts of wine.
For a 2018 film about successful women, Book Club still spouts some old-fashioned ideals about love and sex. These women are purportedly strong, accomplished, and self-directed, and yet the film seems to think they are nothing without a man. Yes, Sharon (Candice Bergen's character) is a respected federal court judge who has been abandoned by a weaselly husband for a much-younger woman. At 70, she is entitled to feel anger and bitterness; her initial stance eschewing romance seems perfectly reasonable. Deciding not to put oneself out there is a legitimate choice, but she is mocked and goaded by her friends into diving back into the dating pool.
Vivian (Fonda) is a love 'em and leave 'em hotel magnate who fears being emotionally manipulated or disappointed by love, a very real concern especially as an independent older woman with considerable financial assets. Yet, the real-talk speech she gives toward the end of the film about why she let a suitor go his way -- acknowledging the fact that older men can continue to woo and win younger women and often do -- is pooh-poohed in favor of having her risk all to chase True Love (never mind that her reunion with her ex consists of a rose garden fountain splash-off, a couple of drinks, and a nap).
Diane (Keaton, still rocking her signature Annie Hall menswear duds) is a well-off widow who ... I don't remember. She has two grown daughters (one of them Alicia Silverstone) who treat her like she's a doddering Alzheimer's patient in need of constant care, but she is devoted to her family and she worries that a new love will interfere with her responsibilities, overshadow memories of her dutiful husband, and upend her comfortable life.
And Carol (Steenburgen) is a thriving chef and restaurateur with a handsome husband with his own midlife crisis; her initial plan to fix things between them is to slip him a little Viagra mickey to spice up their sex life.
Book Club glosses over the real issues and impediments that dating over 60 may well present women today in favor of pat answers and ribald jokes. (Fonda's Netflix hit Grace and Frankie with longtime pal Lily Tomlin though also about rich white women, digs deeper, issues-wise.) Further, every suitor for these women is an AARP dreamboat, healthy, wealthy, and mostly younger. Sexy Don Johnson, 69 (and father of the Fifty Shades films' lead actress Dakota Johnson) shows up to romance Fonda years after their characters first tangoed; 62-year-old Andy Garcia plays an even-tempered pilot attracted to Keaton, a decade his senior; and a distinguished-looking Richard Dreyfuss (70) is a suitable match for Bergen (72). Even when one of Candice's dating-site suitors is the nerdy Wallace Shawn (whom Bergen memorably spurned in an episode of HBO's Sex & the City), he's still a successful doctor. And Steenburgen's spouse is hunky Craig T. Nelson, 74, who for a brief spell is more interested in riding his motorbike than her. Aside from the husband's temporary erectile dysfunction issues, and initial unwillingness to dance in public, these men appear problem and baggage-free.
Of the four actresses, it is Candice who bears the brunt of the film's most humiliating comic scenes: Taking her inert cat to the vet, the diagnosis about the state of her kitty is a withering barb(and gets one of the biggest laughs). Covered in a gloppy face mask, she is unexpectedly photographed by the dating website she finally signs up for; she gets pretzeled by punishing shapewear for all to see during a shopping trip; and she gets to look bedraggled (and a little desperate) in a sedan backseat when dating turns into mating.
This isn't to say that Book Club is without its charms or its laughs. Kudos to the scenery and cinematographer who captured it, the costume and makeup folks who made these ladies look like a million bucks. It is great to see this cast of accomplished older actresses stretch out in a major movie about romance, though I can't help but wonder what adding some diversity to the casting would have done (the addition of Fonda's Monster in Law co-star Wanda Sykes, the rebounding Leslie Uggams of Deadpool, or the regal Phylicia Rashad could have been really interesting). Because of its structure and premise, Book Club could be ripe for any number of prequels (the foursome in their younger years), sequels (another book, another set of "problems" for the ladies), and spinoffs (a completely different foursome reads the "Fifty Shades" books and embark on their own adventures).
And while the film is certainly intended as lighthearted comic fluff with the timeless message of "love conquers all," if you look too hard the message that sneaks through is that, whether women are 16 or 60, the fantasy ideal of finding a perfect love with a perfect man endures.
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