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- 2023
- PG-13
- 1 h 47 m
- 2023
- PG-13
- 1 h 47 m
Summary Four best friends take their book club to Italy for the fun girls trip they never had. When things go off the rails and secrets are revealed, their relaxing vacation turns into a once-in-a-lifetime cross-country adventure.
Directed By: Bill Holderman
Written By: Erin Simms, Bill Holderman
- 2023
- PG-13
- 1 h 47 m
- 2023
- PG-13
- 1 h 47 m
Book Club: The Next Chapter
46
3.5
Where to Watch
Summary Four best friends take their book club to Italy for the fun girls trip they never had. When things go off the rails and secrets are revealed, their relaxing vacation turns into a once-in-a-lifetime cross-country adventure.
Directed By: Bill Holderman
Written By: Erin Simms, Bill Holderman
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 28 Critic Reviews
46
25% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
61% Mixed
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
14% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 28 Critic Reviews
46
25% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
61% Mixed
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
14% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Book Club: The Next Chapter is a raucously funny movie that will leave audiences ready to grab their gal pals and set off on an adventure to Italy.
It may be treacly and unrealistic, but “Book Club: The Next Chapter” has heart and soul, and it’s as sweet and quaffable as an Aperol spritz on a hot day.
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 15 User Ratings
3.5
13% Positive
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
40% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
47% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 15 User Ratings
3.5
13% Positive
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
40% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
47% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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To be clear, Book Club: The Next Chapter is not a good movie by any standards except for its appeal to audiences old enough to fondly remember every cast member in their prime (I’m raising my hand here). Anyone born after Murphy Brown will see a predictable, forgettable series of non-adventures.
The best thing about Book Club: The Next Chapter is just seeing these remarkable actresses do what they do best. I hope Hollywood can make better use of them in the future.
So glibly controlled is the entire cruise, you wonder if it’s without a boatman, gliding on tracks underwater.
Perhaps it was enough for “Book Club” to merely exist as an act of rebellion against the stubbornly young-skewing studio fare. But this follow-up needed to give us more, something along the lines of a sharper film deserving of the earned legacies of Fonda, Keaton, Bergen and Steenburgen.
If anything, the writing in this chocolate-box travelogue of a sequel is even lazier than that of the first film, with much cackling innuendo and sparkly narcissism, a couple of clumsily engineered long-distance domestic crises and interminable heartfelt speeches that made me cringe so hard I nearly dislocated my spine.
IN A NUTSHELL:
The sequel was directed by Bill Holderman, who also produced the film and wrote the story with Erin Simms. This is Bill Holderman’s directorial debut. Congrats!
It’s about four friends who began a Book Club in the first movie, sharing their lives’ ups and downs. In this edition of their adventures together, they travel to Italy and have more shenanigans.
THINGS I LIKED:
The aging cast looks fantastic and includes 4 Academy Award winners, 2 Oscar nominees, and fan favorites over the years. You’ll love seeing Diante Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen, Andy Garcia, Do Johnson, Alicia Silverstone, Richard Dreyfuss, Ed Begley Jr., Wallace Shawn, and Craig T. Nelson.
The humor will mostly appeal to seniors and fans of these leading ladies. Candice Bergen had the funniest lines in the movie, although the worst hairdo.“
The older the vine, the sweeter the fruit”, right?
We get to go to Italy in the movie!
I’m amazed at how many movies and TV shows Jane Fond has been cranking out lately.
The wedding dress shop scene was adorable, especially as each of the women took turns trying on dresses.
Who ever said old, single ladies can’t have fun? It’s inspiring to see aging actresses get work in Hollywood, as well as play seniors who aren’t content to sit in rocking chairs during their Golden Years.
There’s a fun, snappy soundtrack.
While it’s nice to have seen the first movie to better understand each woman’s personality and backstory, this film can easily be enjoyed as a stand-alone feature.
THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:
The talented cast deserved a better script, but it’s still fun to see them in anything.
While they’re all aging beautifully, it is noticeable to see both Jane Fonda and Candice Bergen walk with a limp on occasion.
The jokes are super corny and cheesy.
For a movie called “The Book Club”, there isn’t much reading going on. Ha ha
It doesn’t ring very realistic, as older women are usually invisible to the world. Instead, handsome men constantly fall all over these seniors in the movie.
It’s supposed to be hilarious watching how promiscuous these older women are. It’s not. One of them has an affair while being married. Not funny. I definitely don’t have a sense of humor when it comes to that.
TIPS FOR PARENTS:
Some profanity.
LOTS of talk about intimate relationships.
Lots of alcohol.
Kids will be completely bored.
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For what it’s worth, I enjoyed it more than the first film. My audience filled with the 65+ crowd seemed to enjoy it, and who am I to ruin what is essentially their Avengers: Endgame?
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It wasn't until I started watching it and remembered the characters that I realized this was a sequel. Damn, it didn't even cross my mind with the title The Next Chapter.
Other than that, it's nice to see this quartet of actresses in leading roles, as it's commendable that they're still being given such opportunities, but this movie doesn't really have a story and that's why you have to accept that the concept relies solely on the skeletal framework of what could be considered an idea, and nothing beyond that.
It targets a specific audience in terms of both age and genre. However, how much they will enjoy it is a separate matter, even for those who have a strong affinity for this type of film.
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(Mauro Lanari)
"Desperate Retired Housewives" + "Sex and the Italian Cities": a rather vulgar sequel with the quartet of elderly enchantresses turned airheads, whose irreverence even strikes the extraneous Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and guided by Coelho's "The Alchemist", the only important book that this time serves as a compass for their existential journey.
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Mindless women talking about trivia that no one cares about and an absurd story line resulting in a pathetic waste of time and money. Does anyone want to talk about scandal and 50 year old women at the same time? The first movie was proof that another one should never be made.
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Production Company
Focus Features,
Apartment Story,
Fifth Season,
Makeready
Release Date May 12, 2023
Duration 1 h 47 m
Rating PG-13
Genres
