← Back to Reviews
in
Book Club: The Next Chapter
After watching the dreadful 80 for Brady, I was a little concerned about watching the similarly-themed sequel Book Club: The Next Chapter. It was better than 80 for Brady but not much.
As this 2023 sequel opens, Vivian (Jane Fonda), Diane (Diane Keaton), Sharon (Candice Bergen), and Carol (Mary Steenburgen) are smack dab in the middle of the pandemic and are staying in touch with each other via skype. Once the restrictions are relaxed, Vivian reveals to her girlfriends that she and Arthur (Don Johnson) are getting married. The girls decide to send Vivian off in style and decide to have a bachelorette party for Vivian in Venice.
Bill Holderman, who produced the first film, directed and co-wrote the screenplay for this one and his lack of experience in these areas really show. Once again, the screenplay is pretty much made up of jokes about aging and sexual double entendres which grow really tired really quickly. It was a nice idea to fly the ladies to Venice, which was a big asset here. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous and is a big distraction in the by-the-numbers comedy we get here. The actresses are pros but their talent can only carry this predictable and slightly dull comedy so far.
Once again, Holderman decides that star power is his primary weapon in keeping this sequel worth sitting through. In addition to the ladies, it was nice to see Don Johnson, Andy Garcia, and Craig T Nelson reprise their roles from the first film as well. In this film, Steenburgen and Nelson are kept apart because Nelson's character, Bruce is recovering from a heart attack and Carol's whining about how she shouldn't have left Bruce alone gets old pretty quickly. Ironically, Carol does come thisclose to cheating on Bruce. I loved how that plot played out though.
Needless to say, all the ladies have brief encounters of some sort of sexual dalliance but they're just not interesting enough to sustain the entire running time. I thought it was interesting that about 30 minutes into the film, the ladies have their luggage stolen, but that didn't stop them from costume changes every scene. And except for Vivian's wedding dress, most of the costumes the ladies wear in this film are hideous. Costume designer Stefano De Nardis must have been high throughout production.
The performances are a matter of taste...Bergen and Steenburgen have some funny moments, but Fonda seemed afraid to open her mouth out of fear of cracking her botox. Screen legend Giancarlo Giannini, who was a Best Actor Oscar nominee for Seven Beauties, makes the most of a thankless role as a police chief who helps the ladies when they get arrested and are thrown in the biggest jail cell I've ever seen. If only real jail cells were that big. The movie is pretty, but kind of boring. I actually had trouble staying awake.
After watching the dreadful 80 for Brady, I was a little concerned about watching the similarly-themed sequel Book Club: The Next Chapter. It was better than 80 for Brady but not much.
As this 2023 sequel opens, Vivian (Jane Fonda), Diane (Diane Keaton), Sharon (Candice Bergen), and Carol (Mary Steenburgen) are smack dab in the middle of the pandemic and are staying in touch with each other via skype. Once the restrictions are relaxed, Vivian reveals to her girlfriends that she and Arthur (Don Johnson) are getting married. The girls decide to send Vivian off in style and decide to have a bachelorette party for Vivian in Venice.
Bill Holderman, who produced the first film, directed and co-wrote the screenplay for this one and his lack of experience in these areas really show. Once again, the screenplay is pretty much made up of jokes about aging and sexual double entendres which grow really tired really quickly. It was a nice idea to fly the ladies to Venice, which was a big asset here. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous and is a big distraction in the by-the-numbers comedy we get here. The actresses are pros but their talent can only carry this predictable and slightly dull comedy so far.
Once again, Holderman decides that star power is his primary weapon in keeping this sequel worth sitting through. In addition to the ladies, it was nice to see Don Johnson, Andy Garcia, and Craig T Nelson reprise their roles from the first film as well. In this film, Steenburgen and Nelson are kept apart because Nelson's character, Bruce is recovering from a heart attack and Carol's whining about how she shouldn't have left Bruce alone gets old pretty quickly. Ironically, Carol does come thisclose to cheating on Bruce. I loved how that plot played out though.
Needless to say, all the ladies have brief encounters of some sort of sexual dalliance but they're just not interesting enough to sustain the entire running time. I thought it was interesting that about 30 minutes into the film, the ladies have their luggage stolen, but that didn't stop them from costume changes every scene. And except for Vivian's wedding dress, most of the costumes the ladies wear in this film are hideous. Costume designer Stefano De Nardis must have been high throughout production.
The performances are a matter of taste...Bergen and Steenburgen have some funny moments, but Fonda seemed afraid to open her mouth out of fear of cracking her botox. Screen legend Giancarlo Giannini, who was a Best Actor Oscar nominee for Seven Beauties, makes the most of a thankless role as a police chief who helps the ladies when they get arrested and are thrown in the biggest jail cell I've ever seen. If only real jail cells were that big. The movie is pretty, but kind of boring. I actually had trouble staying awake.