Tag Archives: Jane Fonda

Book Club: The Next Chapter

Book Club: The Next Chapter has all the hallmarks of a Hallmark movie, with a few differences: the cast is older and better known, the budget is bigger and the script is more risqué. It’s rated PG-13 so you can take your mom but not your church group.

“White women drinking wine in gorgeous locations while talking about men” could be the slug line for several Hallmark Channel movies. It also describes Book Club: The Next Chapter.

The white women are Vivian (Jane Fonda), Sharon (Candice Bergen), Diane (Diane Keaton) and Carol (Mary Steenburgen). The gorgeous locations are Rome, Venice and Tuscany. The wine keeps being poured and consumed throughout the film. 

The men they talk about are Don Johnson (Viv’s fiancé) , Andy Garcia (Diane’s boyfriend) and Craig T. Nelson (Carol’s husband). Sharon, whose personality is similar to that of Murphy Brown, does not have a regular guy but that fact lets her cast her net toward a handsome gent she meets in a bar. And one of the gals runs into an old boyfriend from back in the day and spends part of the evening with him in his van.

Would you believe that the movie’s climax features a wedding? And that there are a few last minute surprises just before the “I do’s”? Well, that’s another Hallmark hallmark. 

As mentioned, Italy is gorgeous. And the women, despite their advanced ages (70, 77, 77 and 85), look pretty good, too. Well, the current version of Jane Fonda looks more like the latter day Mary Tyler Moore than the beautiful Jane we remember but, hey, give her credit for hanging in there. 

The wardrobes are fun, too. Despite luggage issues, the cool outfits just keep on coming. On a visit to a bridal designer, all four try on wedding gowns. And where does Diane keep getting all those hats?

Oh, the book the group refers to on several occasions is The Alchemist, a novel by Paulo Coelho. The author is from Brazil. The English translation was first published in 1993, per Wikipedia.

Book Club: The Next Chapter is a big dollop of gooey fluff with a few laughs along the way. If you’ve been to Italy or fantasized about traveling there, add BC:TNC to your Italy movie list. This one will stream in a few weeks but looks better on the big screen.

Leave a comment

Youth

A movie called Youth stars two men who are 82 and 76. Funny, huh?

Of course, the story is filled with reminiscences of their younger days, plus encounters with several youthful individuals.

The setting is a resort in the Alps, sort of a Grand Tyrolean Hotel with similarities to The Grand Budapest Hotel from last year’s Wes Anderson film. It is a spot for the rich and famous from all over the world to escape, enjoy quiet days and nightly entertainment and, maybe, become healthier.

Youth is not as madcap as GBH but it has a its own goofy moments and characters.

Fred Ballinger (Michael Caine) is a retired conductor and composer. Mick Boyle (Harvey Keitel, who also appeared in Grand Budapest Hotel) is a film director and screenwriter. They are old friends who are sharing a suite at the hotel.

Fred’s daughter Lena (Rachel Weisz) is being dumped by her husband, who is Mick’s son. She stays at the resort and begins a flirtation with a mountain climber.

Among the story lines is an effort by the queen to recruit Fred to conduct a command performance in London of a song he composed. Fred repeatedly refuses for personal reasons.

Late in the film an actress who has had a long personal and professional relationship with Mick shows up at the resort. Brenda (Jane Fonda) has big news to deliver. For her brief appearance Fonda received a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actress.

Favorite scenes in Youth include Fred sitting on a log while “pretend conducting” cows and their bells, a guest hackysacking a tennis ball and Mick and his co-writers literally putting their heads together as they script his next movie.

Sort of a running joke: Smoking is forbidden throughout the resort but we see guests and staffers frequently lighting up. Jimmy Tree (Paul Dano), an actor who is visiting the resort, smokes shamelessly. By the way, Youth contains a significant bit of gratuitous nudity.

Youth is a lark, not a “must see.” But if you like Michael Caine—and most of us do, don’t we?—you will enjoy sharing his holiday in the mountains with him and the other guests.

 

 

 

Leave a comment

This Is Where I Leave You

 

This Is Where I Leave You tries hard but falls short. The film waffles between being a story about Judd’s (Jason Bateman) breakup with his wife Quinn (Abigail Spencer) and being an ensemble piece about a family whose father/husband has just died. It tries to be a comedy but is only partially successful. It tries to touch our emotions but is only partially successful.

The cast of TIWILY is impressive. The adult children of Hillary Altman (Jane Fonda) are Judd, Wendy (Tina Fey), Paul (Corey Stall) and Phillip (Adam Driver). Kathryn Hahn plays Paul’s wife Alice. Connie Britton is Phillip’s lover, Tracy. Wendy’s husband Barry (Aaron Lazar) gets very little face time.

The movie opens with Judd catching his wife cheating with his boss (Dax Shepard) who is an outrageous testosterone-fueled satellite radio host. This is where he leaves his wife. Soon after, dad leaves his family behind. So there’s your title.

When the siblings come home to bury their dad, mom tells them that his last wish was that the 4 of them spend a full week in the house. One might expect hilarity to ensue here, but the humor is weak and the film is not as funny as hoped for. TIWILY has its moments, but the overall chuckle factor is rather low on the scale.

Yes, there are those relatable family moments when long-buried memories and resentments resurface. There are those moments when perceptive family members figure out that another isn’t being completely honest. There are reconnections with the past, including Judd’s fling with Penny (Rose Byrne) who just happens to be working at the family’s sporting goods store.

Shawn Levy, who directed the Night At The Museum movies, Date Night and one of my kids’ favorites, Big Fat Liar, is director for TIWILY. He does a nice job of squeezing in numerous characters and plot points with only a handful of each getting shortchanged.

I keep comparing this film with 2005’s The Family Stone, which presented both the emotional moments and the funny stuff better. This Is Where I Leave You is not a “bad” film. If you’re a fan of Jason Bateman or Tina Fey, you’ll enjoy seeing them onscreen. But TIWILY is a middle-of-the-pack movie that, for me, inspires deep feelings of indifference.

 

Leave a comment