"Book Club" doesn't blow up stuff or feature a meeting of super heroes. Well, when you consider their careers, Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen just might be enough to do battle with anybody Marvel Comics could put up. There are real bonifide actors in this film and it's a privilege to watch them even at an...ahem...advanced age.
The premise of this comedy is pretty simple. Four women in the third act of their lives meet regularly for a book club that usually winds up with all of them bitching about something going on in their romantic or maybe non-romantic existences. Well, the next book that is offered up is the first installment of that "Fifty Shades of Gray" series. Well, that unleashes each of the gals into new romantic adventures that range from rollicking to wistful to downright poignant.
If you think those four actresses come from the AARP casting office, wait till you see who plays the men in their lives. Ed Begley Jr.. Don Johnson. Craig T. Nelson. Richard Dreyfuss. Andy Garcia, which offers up a nice mini-reunion with fellow Godfather 3 co-star Keaton.
Sure, there are a lot of vagina and Viagra jokes. Yes, the stars have had various levels of work done to their faces and bodies. And I suppose that, with Fonda's presence, all of this comes off like an extended episode of "Grace and Frankie" sans Lily Tomlin. But I got some genuine laughs and good feelings from this movie and that's a damn good thing when you peruse what else is playing at the multiplex.
It's even more noteworthy when you consider that "Book Club" was directed by Bill Holderman, who co-wrote the very tight screenplay with Erin Samms. Both are hovering around the age of 40 and probably could be the offspring of the actresses starring in their movie. Kudos to them for casting senior folks in a film that is all about senior folks.
The audience I was with loved it and they all fit the age demographic and then some. Some might have been out to the movies for the first time in a year or so.
It is possible to make a movie which is not about the end of the world as depicted by a bunch of gloomy millennials. In this ridiculous sequel-happy world, I would heartily welcome "Book Club 2."
LEN'S RATING: Three-and-a-half stars.
Dinner last night: More leftovers---pork and macaroni salad.
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