The first Book Club, based on a post-menopausal sexual awakening of its central characters after reading 50 Shades of Grey, is long in the rearview mirror with this sequel, which loosely uses The Alchemist to justify sending the ladies to Italy for a bachelorette party.
The singleton-for-life Vivian (Jane Fondo) is proposed to after meeting her beau in the previous movie Arthur (Don Johnson) and her three best friends and Book Club members Sharon (Candice Bergen), Carol (Mary Steenburgen) and Diane (Diane Keaton) decide to follow their long made plans of going to Italy following the pandemic lockdowns and separations that saw them socially distanced for a time beforehand.
In Italy, the film goes part Sex and The City 2 and part tourism advert, with sweeping views of scenery coupled between racy jokes and fashionable moments against its picture-perfect backdrops. But the heart that appeared more in the first film lacks here, with fewer jokes and interesting conversations that made the original so successful.
The main challenge is that the film has made caricatures of its leading ladies, leaning into what the audience expects and milking them far beyond what made them charming in the debut. This really sinks in when the film attempts to lean into the more emotional sphere, with overly sentimental scenes that lead to a goofy ending that barely justifies its existence.
More or less a criticism of its script and direction, Book Club: The Next Chapter lacks real bite or insight that other films about women of a certain age have been able to get right before. Its complete lack of charm puts down the talents of its stars and belittles its audience so much that by its ending, you feel relief it’s over rather than satisfaction that the journey was worth it.
Eden Caceda 