Premise: A group of old friends address different problems in their love lives with the help of 50 Shades of Grey for their monthly book club.
(Club 50) The pitch of this movie is easy to roll your eyes at: "a bunch of Oscar and Emmy winning actresses in their 60s get scandalized by Christian Grey" is the pitch of a bad SNL sketch*. The movie is only lightly about that though. That's a launching point for four stories about love and relationships at an age when TV/movies tend to stop caring about actresses.
*OK, now I'm imagining this. I'm seeing Kate McKinnon as Frances McDormand. Aidy Bryant would be Kathy Bates. Cecily Strong would be Jean Smart. And Chloe Fineman could be Jennifer Coolidge or maybe Emma Thompson.
I won't pretend that this is some overlooked gem. The movie is pretty broad. Most of the humor hits the easiest/laziest notes. It's derivative in nearly every way. If the cast was actresses in their 30s, it would be indistinguishable from many other movies. But you know what? I don't get to see that many movies starring Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and/or Mary Steenburgen in something this light and frothy. These days they get pushed to supporting roles or have to go super-dramatic to get put in something. And they are legends for a reason. They still hold the screen well.
The filmmakers pack the rest of the movie with other familiar faces too. It's nice watching so many actors who Hollywood has left behind getting to be in something that considers them as people. It was even nice seeing Alicia Silverstone show up.
As long as the older male actors get things like Last Vegas or Stand Up Guys (two movies that I never intend to see), I won't begrudge a Book Club. I do normally skip these movies for a reason though.
Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend
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