Director: Bill Holderman
Starring: Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson and Don Johnson
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Runtime: 108 mins. Reviewed in May 2023
Reviewer: Peter W Sheehan

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Rating notes: Coarse language and sexual references

This romantic comedy is a sequel to Book Club (2018), and has the same four women travelling to enjoy Italy together.

This American comedy-drama features four women, who were members of a Los Angeles Book Club in 2018: Diane (Keaton), Vivian (Fonda), Sharon (Bergen) and Carol (Steenburgen). They are best friends, and they continue to meet regularly. They spend a lot of time reappraising their personal relationships to each other, and cementing the closeness of their friendship.

The ages of the women fall between the late 60s and mid-80s, and there continues to be significant issues for them in their relationships with men. Holderman, director of the original film, also guides this movie.

Diane is widowed and values independence; Vivian thinks that she values her freedom too much to settle down with any one person in ‘marriage’, but she is conflicted about what she really wants, and has just become engaged. Sharon was a Federal judge, who has divorced an unfaithful husband, and Carol continues to experience no physical intimacy with her husband. The 2018 movie highlighted what the group expects might happen when they start to look for companionship and intimacy, and on the trip, the four of them want to experience what they think they never had. In Italy, things get a little out of hand, and what they thought would be a relaxing time becomes an emotional adventure for each of them. It is an adventure, in which secrets of the past are revealed and shared. In Italy, one of them rekindles a relationship with an old acquaintance; one gets married; and Carol links up meaningfully with her husband, Bruce (Nelson).

Locations such as Rome’s Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, Venice and Tuscany are filmed in all their glory. The emphasis on scenic locations has replaced the original group’s preoccupation with the facts of life as revealed in Fifty Shades of Grey (2011) by EL James, which was used by the group to replace Erica Jong’s 1973 work, Fear of Flying.

All four women are accomplished comediennes, and each exercises her talents to good advantage. However, the assumptions behind the 2023 movie are a little different from the original 2018 film. We continue to be told that real happiness will be elusive without a man, but there is a stronger emphasis now on independence as a desired feature of love. The positive value in seeking companionship and intimacy in old age remains appreciated, but the struggles to find life-affirming purposes in declining age have yet to be addressed dramatically. One suspects that might happen in a future ‘Chapter’, if such eventuates.

The film is light in tone, has good one-liners, but it searches for a dramatic core in sentimental fashion. The vacation hasn’t been the ‘wild trip to Europe’, each of the women expected.

When the group come together in Italy, lots of emotional insights occur  that will lead viewers to better understand what might happen next.