Book Club

Book Club

Starring Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen

Directed by Bill Holderman

The Story:
Friends since college, four older women have participated in a monthly book club meeting every month, solidifying their friendship despite being polar opposites of each other.  Diane (Diane Keaton) is a widower who has two high-strung adult children who believe she should live in their basement because they worry she won't be able to survive on her own.  Vivian (Jane Fonda) is a no-nonsense, headstrong woman who's never fallen in love and has made a name for herself in a string of hotels she founded from the ground up.  Sharon (Candice Bergen) has been divorced for eighteen years, and finds solace in her cat.  Carol (Mary Steenburgen) is happily married to Bruce (Craig T. Nelson), but their love life has fizzled after he retired.

Vivian chooses the book "Fifty Shades of Grey," and the women use the book as a way to re-enrich their lives.  Vivian catches up with old flame Arthur (Don Johnson), Diane meets handsome pilot Mitchell (Andy Garcia), Sharon tries online dating and lands a man named George (Richard Dreyfuss), and Carol goes about trying to spark some new passion in her marriage.

The Synopsis:
Growing up, I absolutely loved "The Golden Girls," the highly successful television series about four single older women living together in Florida.  Each character was an archetype, but didn't just play to them: Rose was the naive one, Blanche was the feisty one, Dorothy was the level-headed one, and Sophia was the wise one, yet they learned and adapted from each other, resulting in a very well-rounded series with deeply drawn characters.

Now picture it: Los Angeles area, modern time.  While "The Golden Girls" have been off the air for decades, Hollywood still has a desire to appease the older crowd, so first-time director Bill Holderman takes it upon himself to direct for of the silver screen's most iconic women and weave a story of love, life, and good friends.  The result is something that could've been done in about two episodes of "The Golden Girls," a film that's fun and heartfelt, but rather unnecessary in the grand scheme of things.

I'll be the first to admit that this type of film is not catered for me - in fact, not only was I the only male in the audience, I was also the only person under the age of 50 (I'm assuming).  While I found the film to be basically a small snippet of the lives of these four women, it was adequate enough in telling a life-long friendship built on a firm foundation of trust, mutual respect, and shared ideals.  Yes, it is highly predictable, and yes, the character development is bare at best, but these four leading ladies take turns sharing the big screen in a way that's beautiful and doesn't come across as wanting to steal screen time from the others (not being stereotypical, but that's how it sometimes goes in Hollywood when you have four strong women trying to lead a film...although saying that I entirely sound stereotypical).

When these women come together for their monthly book club meeting, it's more than just a time to discuss the recent novel they've read, but get back in touch with each others' lives.  Thankfully, despite the preview premise of them following the "Fifty Shades of Grey" mantra, there's no whips and chains involved in the film (again, very thankful for that, because I don't think I'd be able to get those images out of my mind - and now they're in your mind because you're thinking about it).

Diane Keaton stars as Diane, who recently lost her husband and is trying to get back to living again, but she's deeply worried about her adult children who live in Arizona.  They want her to move with them, because they see her as someone who could hurt herself due to her older age.  It's a rather exaggerated look at how adult children see their elderly parents, and even though their hearts are in the right place, they come off as highly condescending to Diane and her needs (at one point they leave her on the ground floor of a mall, even though it's just an escalator, leaving her to sit with a bunch of more down-and-out elderly people, to which she remarks that she feels like she's on "an episode of 'The Walking Dead.'").  Her next chance at love comes from Andy Garcia's charming Mitchell (if you - as a cinephile - can overlook the fact that they starred as aunt and nephew in "The Godfather Part III"), who's a pilot.  He's suave and smart, independently wealthy and madly in love with Diane - she just has to learn to love again, and not allow her children to dictate her life.

Jane Fonda plays Vivian, who's the obvious Blanche of the group.  She's very sexually active, and has never had a serious relationship in her life - she views sleeping with a man (not sexually, but actually sleeping) as a sign of weakness, and has never been able to do it.  She's amassed a business fortune with her hotel, and she's a strong, independent woman.  Then she comes across old flame Arthur, played by Don Johnson (whose daughter actually starred in the film adaptations of the "Fifty Shades" books), and she fears falling in love at such an older age can result in her loosing everything.

Candice Bergen shines as Sharon, a divorcee who doesn't want to have another relationship again, until the book re-kindles her desire to do so.  She goes on the dating scene online (in several hilarious moments), and eventually finds a man in Richard Dreyfuss's George.  However, her life is turned upside down when her ex-husband and son announce their mutual engagements to their respective women, and Sharon believes that she'll never find love despite looking for it again.

Then there's Carol, played by Mary Steenburgen.  She's the married one of the group, with three children who are grown and moved out, and now it's just her and her husband, played by Craig T. Nelson.  Since his retirement six months ago, their love life has hit the skids, and Christian Grey has re-ignited her desire in the bedroom.  She tries to coax Bruce to see her in a passionate light again (even drugging him with Viagra, leading to a hilarious scene involving a female police officer), but soon learns that her needs aren't the only ones not being met, sending riffles through their relationship.

What "Book Club" does right is giving these four leading ladies enough time to shine in their respective stories, while combining them several times to compare notes and offer assistance to each other.  It's refreshing to see women holding this kind of friendship that's lasted decades, whereas nowadays women don't seem (generally) to really root for one another.  However, that's really the only bright side of the film, as the rest is muddied down in a tired plot structure that has very little resistance, characters who feel one-dimensional, and more old people gags than you can shake a stick at (get it?).  While I'm thankful they didn't go "full on Fifty" here, there's so much story that could've been told and so much better performances given than what was delivered.

The Summary:
Combining four of Hollywood's most iconic leading ladies together seemed like a surefire hit, but with an uninspired story and very little to go on, the film just results in a so-so movie that'll make you feel good for the moment then forget about it soon after leaving.

The Score: C