BOOK CLUB (2018)

Rated: PG-13

STARS: Candice Bergen, Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen
DIRECTOR: Bill Holderman
GENRE: Romantic Comedy

I'm sitting inside a theater that's at least half full for a matinee performance, and having scanned the crowd, I'm quite certain I'm the only one with a member in attendance at this showing of Book Club.  (To point out that it's a total chick flick would be like belaboring the obvious about a bear in the woods.) But the chance to see four icons of the silver screen--Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Diane Keaton, and Mary Steenburgen-- playing off of one another in a never to be repeated event is too good to pass up.

Vivian (Jane Fonda) is a successful hotelier--cynical to the bone, who "never sleeps with anyone she really likes." Sharon (Candice Bergen) is a federal judge who is dabbling judiciously in online dating. Diane (Diane Keaton) is a widow with two condescending daughters who think that mom is ready to join the I've-Fallen-And-I-Can't-Get-Up crowd. She is far from that. And Carol (Mary Steenburgen) is a chef whose longtime marriage to Bruce (Craig T. Nelson) is in a real rut--and it's rutting that seems to be the issue.

The tie that binds the four ladies together is their book club, and this time they've selected Fifty Shades Of Grey to be their titillating read. This sets the table for some raunchy one-liners when they get together, none of which I thought were that funny, but it's "cute" because of their ages, right?  In real life Steenburgen is 65; Fonda is 80; Keaton and Bergen are 72, but they pass off as contemporaries due to the wonders of cosmetic surgery that have kept Ms. Fonda looking like Barbie (or Barbarella) for all these years.

What works in this romantic comedy is not the comedy, but the romance, and the four separate story lines provide a lot of poignant moments. Richard Dreyfuss, Don Johnson, Andy Garcia, and Craig T. Nelson as the counterparts or potential partners for these ladies would be an impressive list of stars in any other film, were they not yielding the spotlight to these four heavyweights (oh go on...I mean that in a good way!) That and a soundtrack full of uplifting tunes that fit so well and hit all the right notes at the right times to manipulate your emotions. But you won't mind.

One scene that is funny is Richard Dreyfuss and Candice Bergen's characters out on a date--the chemistry between them is awesome. And a sight gag with Craig T. Nelson's character after his wife has slipped Viagra into his drink is particularly pointed.

So here we have a film that would be your run of the mill rom-com in every way, except that it's out to prove that love is ageless. And that's what sets it apart in a you-go-girl way. On the "negative" side, Book Club displays a bit too much of the jaw-dropping beauty of my home state, Arizona. I can hear the sound of folks packing their bags and heading west as we speak. All right then, if you must. I've been thinking of hiring out as a tour guide anyway.

Grade:  B

JILL'S TAKE

Unlike Tim's movie experience, the AMC theater I attended was packed full of  enthusiastic seniors ready to giggle their wrinkles away at four women dealing with the realities of sex after a certain age.  Of course, not all over-70 ladies look like these four glamour gals. Nor do they find themselves on a plane, seated next to some ridiculously sexy pilot played to perfection by Andy Garcia (age 62). Nor do they bump into an old beau (Don Johnson, age 68) who, after a 40 year absence, looks like he belongs on the cover of GQ. (I had my own senior giggle, knowing that Johnson's daughter Dakota plays the female lead in the movie versions of Fifty Shades!)  As unrelated as this feel-good film is to real life--  especially the online dating scene -- I'll bet my bloomers it'll be a box office biggie. 

The dialogue is crisp.  The situations, funny.  And the ensemble acting is worth the price of admission. (Shockingly high here in southern California, I might add.)  But the gal I went to the movie with pointed out how Jane Fonda seems to always be Jane Fonda in every role she plays.  I'd have to agree with her.  Then again, acting has never been a strong point with this uber in-shape daughter of a Hollywood legend. (The only film where I felt she exhibited some serious acting chops was On Golden Pond.)

There's a line Candice Bergen says that will remain with me long after I forget The Book Club: (and I'm paraphrasing here): "Love is just a word until someone makes it real."  To me, that's right up there with "Love means never having to say you're sorry." (Love Story, 1970)  "Hate put me in prison.  Love's gonna bust me out."  (The Hurricane, 1999) And, going way back, "Love is a song that never ends."  (Bambi, 1942)

For something escapist with nary a car chase, or a robot taking over the universe, I highly recommend this romantic comedy.  "Love never goes out of style." (Jill, 2018)

Grade: A

DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE MORGANS? (PG-13)

STARS: Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker

DIRECTOR: Marc Lawrence

It's an intriguing concept. A successful Manhattan couple, Paul and Meryl Morgan, (Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker) who are separated cuz she discovered that he did the nasty with another woman, witness the murder of a guy with mob connections. The hit man gets a good look at their faces, and later tries to track them down. So the government puts them in the federal witness protection program and ships them off to Where The Hell Am I, Wyoming. Thrown together again by fate, Paul attempts, awkwardly, to patch up their relationship, amidst ideology and culture clash with the local rednecks, who have little empathy for alternative lifestyles (she's a vegetarian and a PETA supporter) . Meanwhile, the relentless killer is on their trail, and it's only a matter of time before he sniffs them out.

But Did You Hear About The Morgans? is like a Cliff Notes version of a movie, with characters and a plot that aren't completely fleshed out. Meryl has strong convictions, but we're not shown what led her to them--the couple don't even have a cute little dog or a cat or a baboon or a marmoset, as far as we can tell. It's not surprising, though, that the omission was made, as mainstream film makers like to portray vegetarians as being airheads.

Hosted by local U.S. Marshal Clay Wheeler (Sam Elliott) and his Annie Oakley wife Emma, (Mary Steenburgen) our hapless couple is holed up in a cabin with animal trophy heads on the walls and a refrigerator crammed with meat. This sets up the "city slickers out of their element" gag to play throughout the rest of the film. To his credit, writer-director Marc Lawrence (Miss Congeniality) keeps the relationship theme central to the story, rather than turning the movie into an early referendum on the 2012 election--with a wild-eyed, moose blasting Sarah Palin battling for our hearts and minds against the progressive-minded Obamas (Michelle doesn't wear fur) . Both sides stick to their guns and the ideological divide is played mostly for chuckles.

But Did You Hear About the Morgans? takes too many shortcuts--as in when Paul encounters a cranky bear outside the cabin. Meryl, from inside, tries to relay instructions to him on what to do. He's caught between freezing in place or running for his life. It's an amusing bit (as only Grant can pull it off) until you detect that they've resorted to one of the oldest and cheapest cinematic tricks in the book--and that is to superimpose Paul against the backdrop of a screen (like they do with your local TV weatherman) where the bear is snarling menacingly, but Hugh Grant as Mr. Morgan is in no real danger because he's off in a studio somewhere. (Geez...you'd think they could have paid a stunt guy to have a fake tussle with a trained bear, for the sake of realism.) There IS some real courage demonstrated, though, and it comes from Sarah Jessica Parker, who allows herself to be filmed on a city street in the rain, with drenched hair and wearing no makeup. Sans cosmetics, she is strikingly plain-Jane. But it's another bogus scene cuz no upscale Manhattan babe is gonna be caught dead looking that way in public !

Did You Hear About the Morgans? isn't the worst movie I've ever seen...it's just the worst Hugh Grant or Sarah Jessica Parker movie I've seen.

GRADE: C +

THE PROPOSAL

So Sandra Bullock was hitting the TV talk show circuit, promoting The Proposal by playing up her "nude" scene--a first for her. When I think about it, it seems a little odd for a woman to go on national TV and say, HEY--COME CHECK OUT MY BODY, EVERYBODY! It just illustrates how convoluted our moral standards are in this country. If a teacher posted racy photos of herself on the web, she'd lose her job. If a politician fools around on his spouse, it's a big scandal. But actors flaunt convention all the time in their steamy sex scenes...and they even allow it to be filmed! HAVE THEY NO SHAME? Actors are held to no moral standard whatsoever, because it's just "acting"--even though they may exert more influence over a greater number of people (their fans) than any one teacher has over her relative handful of students.

At times, we may feel like knocking other people around a bit to relieve our anger and frustrations. But we don't do that--we watch a football game instead. Actors provide a similar kind of safety valve by portraying things that many of us would LIKE to do ourselves, but know that we'll get into trouble for if we do. And if an actor is really feeling the part, it ain't acting--okay? (Remember, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie fell in love on the movie set.) So they're getting away with it, is my point.

And as to the heretofore mentioned "nekkid" scene--well, kiddies, it's a PG-13 flick, so get your expectations back in line with reality, and understand that there are many creative ways to conceal the naked truth--and Bullock is an expert at it.

And NOW...back to our movie! Margaret (Sandra Bullock) is editor-in-chief at a New York publishing firm. She intimidates all the underlings that inhabit the place, including her assistant, Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds). But she's a Canadian citizen, and a snafu with her visa may result in her getting kicked out of the country...unless...AHA! She'll get Andrew to agree to a sham marriage (and later, a quickie divorce) and the problem will go away. Andrew goes along with it--he knows she's in a vulnerable position--and he can squeeze some concessions out of her. Like publishing his novel, for one thing. But there's an Immigration guy (Denis O'Hare) who is on to them from the beginning, and he hounds them all the way to Alaska where they've gone to meet Andrew's family, just to make the charade appear legit. The gang that plays Andrew's family: Mary Steenburgen, (mom) Craig T. Nelson, (pop) and Betty White ("Gammy") embodies inspired casting. And you can always count on something coming out of Betty White's mouth that's off the wall and unexpected. If you've never been to Alaska, (one of my old stomping grounds) you need to see this movie just to get a taste of how pristine and downright gorgeous the place is.

You can sniff out the ending of this one early on--in fact, you can pretty much figure out how ANY romantic comedy is going to go, once the premise is laid out. But that doesn't count as a strike against The Proposal. A rom com is a rom com is a rom com...and when in Rome, you do as the Romans do (unless you're the pope). In short, the leading couple is going to end up happy, one way or another. Where romantic comedies succeed is in sowing the seeds of doubt among non-film critics as to whether that happy ending is actually going to come about, as they cross their fingers and hope against hope that it will.

Going in, I had this one pegged as more lighthearted fluff--Sandra Bullock's stock in trade. But DAMN, it's so nice when a movie exceeds your expectations by a mile and then some. Lighthearted fluff in the minds of some, perhaps-- but this is a beautiful film. Not only cinematically, but in spirit as well. And it's genuinely funny.

The Proposal was made the way they used to make movies...with tremendous heart and devotion to the craft. I say you better see it.

GRADE: A-

(I'm only taking off a few points for the "too much ado" nekkid scene.)