Book Club (2018)

“Book Club” stars Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen.  Released on May 18, 2018, the film is about a group of women who seek to find pleasure in their lives after reading Fifty Shades of Grey during their book club.

The film features the directorial debut of Bill Holderman, who also wrote the film’s screenplay with Erin Simms.  Book clubs are great for people who want to come together to talk about a specific novel that they read.  In this case, they’re great for changing how they see their own personal relationships.  I wasn’t really expecting myself to talk about this latest romantic comedy, but since my mother and my sister were eager to see it, I figured I would use that as an excuse to do just that.  I’m not the type of guy who’s really into romantic comedies unless they have a concept that’s as intriguing as the humor and the romance.  This film happens to have that kind of concept, and to my surprise, it was actually quite enjoyable.

The film follows a structure that involves four friends coming together for a book club and talk about their selected novel, Fifty Shades of Grey, while also dealing with their own relationship problems in the process.  Let’s just say that their conversations were as sexy as the book itself.  While it doesn’t add anything new to the rom-com formula, there were plenty of likable moments that made me rethink about book clubs.  The four main leads did a really nice job with their performances and their chemistry with one another was actually fun to watch.  Bill Holderman had a task of making both the cast and the story entertaining for the older crowd and for people outside of the film’s target audience, and he pulled it off just fine.  It does get a bit slow during a couple of scenes, and the dialogue felt a bit corny, but it’s the type of film that people can just enjoy for what it is.  Plus, it can make them appreciate the power of love.  Most of the humor consists of sex-related material, which would make sense considering the fact that the characters are reading Fifty Shades during their book club.  It may not attract those who aren’t into this type of humor, but some of the jokes in there were pretty amusing.  There weren’t any memorable ones, save for a couple of scenes that were shown in the film’s trailers, but they somehow managed to put a lovely smile on my face.

Overall, the pattern in “Book Club” is undoubtedly familiar, but the talented cast and its amusing humor are enough to provide a likable treat for those who enjoy hosting book clubs.  It’s not going to win any awards for its storytelling, but for the most part, it’s a nice little surprise in the midst of this year’s summer movie season.  If you’re a fan of these four talented actresses, then I think you’re going to enjoy this film as much as I did.

B-