CinemaNerdz

Movie Review: Book Club: The Next Chapter

Mike Tyrkus
Mary Steenburgen, Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, and Candice Bergen in "Book Club: The Next Chapter"

Mary Steenburgen, Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, and Candice Bergen in "Book Club: The Next Chapter."

Although the new film, Book Club: The Next Chapter may boast a cast of Hollywood royalty, including Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen, a lack of logical forward momentum or functional narrative leaves the whole thing pretty much dead in the water.

The sequel to 2018’s Book Club, cleverly titled Book Club: The Next Chapter, follows the four best friend from the first film as they take a the “girls” trip to Italy that they never have, but always wanted to. But, as the intended relaxing vacation becomes an off-the-rails cross-country adventure of mistaken identity and outlandish hijinks, the four members of the Book Club find their friendships, and personal relationships, put to the test as well.

While there is no doubting the talent assembled within the cast of this, and the previous film, there is little to require the presence of the likes of Keaton, Fonda, Steenburgen, or Bergen to propel any aspect of this story along at any given time. This is essentially a film that appears to exist so that everyone involved could enjoy a nice Italian getaway and perhaps maybe a film would somehow come out of it. Sadly, it does not.

From the onset, as the only reference to the actual purpose of a book club occurs during the opening credit sequence, and the film quickly becomes little more than a series of insulting fish-out-of-water jokes putting the four women in one outlandish situation followed by another even more so. While this may have been entertaining for one go around, it is less so here and grows tedious with each minute as the film trudges toward its inevitable climax.

Despite the many problems facing Book Club: The Next Chapter, there is a decent film to be had here, but this current incarnation is not that film. This is a hodgepodge of ideas that never quite get to where they need to be and ultimately wastes the talent of those involved to offer little more than an elongated vacation video.

Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.
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