Delayed Reaction: Let Them All Talk

Premise: A famous author, her nephew, and her two old college friends go on a cruise where they each have ulterior motives.

 

I love how bored Steven Soderbergh gets. He's one of the genuinely surprising filmmakers out there, because his next movie could be anything. He's best known for his crime/heist movies like Ocean's Eleven or Out of Sight. He also has his sex dramas like Sex, Lies, and Videotape. Or his super indie movies like Bubble or Unsane. Sometime he mixes the sex and the indie like The Girlfriend Experience. He's got his epic Che film, corporate malfeasance film (Erin Brockovich), or even The Informant!, which has always struck me as an attempt at a Coen Brothers movie. He "retires" on a whim or opts for a TV show occasionally. He'll lead an all-star cast or use complete unknowns. Sometimes, he even just picks up an iPhone and starts filming. And, what I think is his greatest skill is that no matter how indie he gets, his sensibilities always seem to be studio friendly. He's like Frasier Crane running with scissors around Cheers. So, he decided to make this film on a boat for two weeks with minimal crew and only the outline of the script. Yet, it's a movie starring legends Meryl Streep, Dianne Wiest, and Candice Bergen. Oh, and the boat is the Queen Mary 2. It's an odd mix of lo-fi and high status. Soderbergh has as many misses as he does hits with me, but he's second to none when it comes to movies that make me say, "huh. That's an interesting idea".

 

True to form, I didn't love Let Them All Talk but I think it's a really nifty movie. It's nice to see those three actresses bounce off one another. Lucas Hedges and Gemma Chan too. There's that nice twist that recontextualizes the movie. I'm going to be a wet blanket though and say I wish the script was tighter. Because improv is a team effort. The weakest improvisor in a scene dictates the quality of it. Streep, Bergen, and Wiest can fake it pretty well most of the time. Chan and especially Hedges seem less comfortable. I wish there was more of a polished script for them to get through then have some fun with alternate takes. Or maybe with more time than the two week shoot the performances could've uniformly felt more natural. Then again, I doubt this would've been made with the same cast and director had the shoot been more traditional.

 

In other words, this is a noble Soderbergh experiment that fits nicely in with his filmography. It's an enjoyable movie that I wanted a little more out of. However, results like this are why Soderbergh is able to make a new and unexpected movie nearly every year. 

 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend