REVIEW: Book Club turns the page on the secret life of saucy seniors

REVIEW: The lead characters of Book Club are four females of a certain age who find their love lives transformed for better and for worse after reading all the Fifty Shades of Grey novels.

THE lead characters of Book Club are four females of a certain age who find their love lives transformed for better and for worse after reading all the Fifty Shades of Grey novels.

Audiences of a certain age who have suffered through another winter of nothing much to see at the cinema will welcome this saucy-senior rom-com with open arms.

It is not that good a movie, but it could not come at a better time for those who really need it.

(Everyone else should head for the hills. If you’re outside the target demographic, you won’t last 10 minutes of these affluent biddies discussing alternative modes of bonking.)

An experienced cast did the best they could with the material in Book Club.

Even if the source material propping up Book Club is weak, the experienced cast handed the task of tearing it all up is very strong indeed.

No need to bother with character names here. All you need to know is Diane Keaton is the widowed-and-about-to-date one, Candice Bergen is the divorced-and-about-to-date one, Mary Steenburgen is the married-but-unfulfilled-one and Jane Fonda is the sexy-and-still-sleeping-around one.

Jane Fonda stars in Book Club.

As is often the case in movies where clever casting choices must cover for consistently clumsy storytelling - and when Book Club does drop a clanger, the echo can last for minutes afterwards - the chemistry shared by the top-billed players is crucial.

Mesdames Keaton (the most skilled comedian of the group), Steenbergen (the most willing to throw herself under the bus for the greater good), Bergen (who gets the best in the one-liner department) and Fonda (simply all charisma all the time here) clearly got along great during shooting, even if they can’t hide their discomfort with some of the tackier tasks sent their way.

Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen, and Candice Bergen star in Book Club.

The obvious camaraderie openly displayed by the quartet is infectious enough to keep you on their side throughout, though the film is daring you to dislike it with a brand of sexual slapstick that feels as if it has time-travelled from a TV sitcom in the 1970s.

Minor pluses in the support cast that make a major difference when needed are veteran heart-throbs Andy Garcia and Don Johnson as the patient love interests awaiting their turns with Keaton and Fonda respectively.

BOOK CLUB (M)

Rating: Two and a half stars (2.5 out of 5)

Director: Bill Holderman (feature debut)

Starring: Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen, Candice Bergen, Andy Garcia, Don Johnson.

Not here for a good tome, just here for a good time

Originally published as REVIEW: Book Club turns the page on the secret life of saucy seniors