Butler's Cinema Scene

Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen

“BOOK CLUB”  My rating: C+

104 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13

The advertising for “Book Club” tells us exactly what to expect. This vehicle for four fine actresses of a certain age (Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen) is basically “The Golden Girls” with Viagra. Don’t wait for surprises…there aren’t any.

The good news is that despite the self-congratulatory, nudge-nudge/wink-wink humor employed by director Bill Holderman and co-writer Erin Simms,  “Book Club’s” cast — not just the female leads but the male supporting actors as well — are solid enough that even a curmudgeonly viewer can take comfort in basking in the glow of so much collective talent.

The premise finds four women, pals since college days, who meet regularly to discuss a new book. They are:

The recently widowed Diane (Keaton), who is contending with the smothering attentions of her two grown daughters (Alicia Silverstone, Katie Aselton). They want to move Mom from L.A. out to their home in Arizona.

The vivacious Vivian (Fonda), a wealthy businesswoman and hotel owner who has never married and in fact refuses to sleep with men. Literally…she’ll bonk their brains out, but she won’t sleep with them, as that implies an intimacy she’s always avoided.

Sharon (Bergen) is a long-divorced federal judge more than a little peeved that her geeky ex-husband (Ed Begley Jr.) is now engaged to a braindead twentysomething blonde. She hasn’t had a date in 18 years.

Finally there’s Carol (Steenburgen), a successful restauranteur whose once-passionate marriage to Bruce (Craig T. Nelson) has hit the doldrums. Recently retired, he’s now more interested in servicing his old motorcycle than his wife.

Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson

These four women find their minds and nether regions stirred by their latest book club selection: Fifty Shades of Grey. This is Vivian’s idea: “We started book club to stimulate our minds.”

To which one of the ladies responds: “From what I hear this book is quite stimulating.”

Ho. Ho.

Anyway, their salacious reading stirs something in the club members, all of whom embark on new romantic adventures.

Diane gets a buzz from a fellow passenger (Andy Garcia) on a flight to Arizona; turns out he’s an airline pilot with a fantastic home out in the desert.

Sharon begins haunting dating sites and hits the jackpot with a fellow romance seeker (Richard Dreyfuss).

Carol spikes her husband’s drink with a couple of Viagra; he is not amused at banging his swollen johnson every time he turns abruptly into furniture and door jambs.

Vivian runs into an old flame from her reckless youth  (Don Johnson) and considers giving up her sex-only policy.

The outcomes are never in question.  The fun comes in seeing these actresses negotiate the material, even if they sometimes fall back on their standard repertoire (i.e., Keaton’s “Annie Hall”-ish flibbertigibbet routine).

“Book Clubs” offers no real insights into geriatric love. Its bromides are predictable.

But it offers enough comic diversion that most viewers will find the trip worthwhile.

| Robert W. Butler