This isn’t just limited to Rome but Venice and Tuscany as well. While it’s still a vacation, it never feels too touristy as a film. Thanks to the location scouting and such, Book Club: The Next Chapter takes its audiences to some lesser-seen sites. One of the things that I appreciate about the film is that they’re not just taking us to the must-see sites on screen.

They’re able to write new pages on the fly, if necessary. I cannot stress the importance of having writers on set. They also write some really fun gags for the film, too. In any event, Holderman and Simms write to their strengths and give the audience what it wants: more scenes with the four women together. And again, there is no shortage of comedy as result. While I have not read the book, the film manages to reflect its themes. I’m not spoiling anything in particular because you’ve got to experience it with your own eyes!Īs Diane (Diane Keaton), Vivian (Fonda), Sharon (Candice Bergen), and Carol (Mary Steenburgen) make the trip to Italy, Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist drives the plot. The stars are all in alignment but Holderman and Simms manage to raise the stakes even further when it comes to the comedy material. They have an opportunity to take a trip but this time around, it becomes a bachelorette party. The four were supposed to go many years prior but the trip never happened. At which point, the topic of Italy comes up. That’s right, it starts out as a Zoom movie before restrictions loosen up and they’re finally able to get together in person. Along came a world-changing pandemic lockdown, travel ban, and the rest his story.įor better or worse, Holderman and Simms incorporate the pandemic into the film. It soon became a journey of how do you serve the story and take the cast to Italy. The sequel’s journey dates back to an idea sparked during Book Club‘s introduction at CinemaCon 2018. Behind every film is a great writer–well, in this instance, there are two of them.

Regardless, it is a great credit to both their chemistry and both Bill Holderman and Erin Simms–Holderman directs while the duo co-wrote the film. How often is it that four 65+ women are leading a movie? Not often. The studio might have changed but the magic that Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen have not. Book Club: The Next Chapter takes audiences on a much-needed vacation to Italy in a film that is more epic in scope than its predecessor.

Erin a craig books in order