Book Club

A poignant rom-com aimed at older adults, Book Club is set in suburban Santa Monica, CA, where four friends meet regularly to sip wine, nibble canapés, and discuss their lives as they relate to a chosen book. Years ago, the women began with Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying; now they’re into E.L. James’s Fifty Shades of Grey. Each woman represents a particular stage of romantic life: Jane Fonda’s sexy, vivacious Vivian is a wealthy, workaholic hotelier who has avoided emotional commitment—until she is suddenly tracked down by an old flame (Don Johnson). Candice Bergen’s Sharon is an acerbic federal judge who hasn’t had a relationship since her divorce 18 years ago. But now that her ex (Ed Begley Jr.) has a decades-younger fiancée (Mircea Monroe), Sharon is reluctantly risking dinner with Internet dates (Richard Dreyfuss, Wallace Shawn). Recently widowed after 40 years of marriage, Diane Keaton’s skittish Diane is fending off grown helicopter daughters (Alicia Silverstone, Katie Aselton) who want her to move near them in Scottsdale, AZ. On a plane, she meets Mitchell (Andy García), a suave pilot who asks her out. And Mary Steenburgen’s Carol is a successful chef/restauranteur whose once-sparky marriage to recently retired Bruce (Craig T. Nelson) has gone stale. Working from a naughty-but-nice screenplay, co-writer/director Bill Holderman interweaves the ladies’ stories while evoking nostalgia as Keaton revives her androgynous Annie Hall wardrobe, Steenburgen does a Melvin and Howard tap dance, and Fonda wears thigh-high Klute boots. Sweetly saucy, it’s a senior feel-good chick-flick. Recommended. [Note: Blu-ray extras include deleted and extended scenes (11 min.), the behind-the-scenes featurettes “Casting” (14 min.), “It All Started with a Book” (11 min.), “Location, Location, Location” (10 min.), “A New Chapter” (9 min.), and “Living in the Moment” (4 min.), and bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a fun film.] (S. Granger)