If you’ve ever found yourself reading a long novel or even an anthology book and you’ve come across a chapter or a long passage that starts to drag, you skim across the words and then go on to the next important part. That is basically the best way to describe Book Club: The Next Chapter.
The first movie, which was released in 2018, seemed to be a Boomer romcom in the vein of Nancy Myers about well-privileged upper class women who realize they still have a lot worth living for after focusing on the Fifty Shades of Grey novels in their book club. The cast included Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Diane Keaton and Mary Steenburgen realizing their sexual peak isn’t gone and they want a little more romance and fun times before they leave this Earth. It’s was charming and cute and the interaction between the actresses was lightning in a bottle.
Set in the post-Covid Pandemic world, the book club plan a bachelorette party in Italy when Vivian (Fonda) becomes engage to her boyfriend, Arthur (Don Johnson). Even though she’s began a relationship with Mitchell (Andy Garcia), Diane (Keaton) has brought the ashes of her husband with her. And Carol (Steenburgen) is become more worried and concerned following the heart attack of her husband, Bruce (Craig T. Nelson), so it’s obvious they’re in the mood for some hi-jinks especially when Sharon (Bergen) meets Ousmane (Hugh Quarshie) in Venice and they have a little fling on a boat nonetheless.
Unfortunately, they lost their luggage to people on a train they thought were porters and this includes the ashes. And Sharon is quick to criticize the police chief (Giancarlo Giannini) for their initial lack of consideration or compassion. But you know eventually, Sharon will eat crow and the ashes will be recovered. Bruce will get better and ease Carol’s worries. What Vivian doesn’t know is that they’re going to surprise her in Tuscany with a wedding to Arthur.
Despite this, I felt a lot of the movie was more episodic than following a coherent story. The jokes almost seem to write themselves and can be seen coming from a mile away. When they have a breakdown on the road, the officer who arrives is a young muscular man who Vivian thinks is a stripper and they end up in jail where the police chief offers some sympathy despite their initial criticism.
Bill Holderman returns again to direct the movie and co-wrote it with Erin Simms. But the charm isn’t there that made the first movie. And while sending them on a trip is the perfect sequel cliche, it feels boring. Maybe Holderman and Simms felt that the four actresses together would be enough to make the movie watchable, but it isn’t. Even worse, the roles written for Garcia, Johnson and Nelson are even worse. You get the sense they took the roles for about a week’s worth of work and a paid trip to Italy.
Only Quarshie is a nice addition to the movie but once his character and Bergen’s have sex, he seems to vanish into the background. Bergen has said there are plans for a third movie, but since this one was such a box office bomb failure and critics didn’t like it, it leads me to wonder will the book be closed early.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 