Film Review: Book Club

Great company, solid laughs make this Club worth joining

Longtime friends Diane (Diane Keaton, l.), Sharon (Candice Bergen), Vivian (Jane Fonda) and Carol (Mary Steenburgen) talk about books and more in their book club.

Writer/director Bill Holderman, whose age isn’t listed on IMDB, but who looks to be in his late 40s or so, must be particularly close to his grandparents. His first screenplay, 2015’s A Walk in the Woods concerned two older men reconnecting on an ill-advised hiking trip, and now his newest screenplay — and his first directorial attempt — is about four senior citizen women on a similar journey of self-discovery. The women’s catalyst for change isn’t the Appalachian Trail, however; it’s E.L. James’s infamously titillating bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey. Co-written by actress and first time screenwriter Erin Simms, Book Club takes a fun but lightweight idea and makes it a success because of the quartet of legendary and always watchable actresses who bring the story to life.

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Film Review: The Only Living Boy in New York

Let your honesty shine, shine, shine… Except when it doesn’t, like in this phony, affected picture   

Thomas (Callum Turner) confronts Johanna (Kate Beckinsale), his father’s mistress.

The word “serviceable’ gets bandied about quite a bit in director Marc Webb’s new film about a young writer, which is ironic, since The Only Living Boy in New York is anything but. In fact, serviceable is actually far too kind a word for this hackneyed, derivative embarrassment.
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Also in Theaters — 5/16/2014 — Chef / God’s Pocket / The Double

Film Review: Chef

Review by Gordon Elgart

This is one food truck you don't want to miss.
This is one food truck you don’t want to miss.

Jon Favreau writes, directs and stars in Chef, which is clearly a passion project about the passions of others. HIs main character, Chef Carl Casper, is a genius chef who’s been working for ten years in the restaurant of a man who does not appreciate genius chefs. One big night, a reviewer is coming to the restaurant to see what Chef Carl is making these days, and writes a scathing review which starts the events of the movie in motion. Chef Carl needs to put his life back together while balancing the relationship he has with his son, a child of his divorce.

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