Book Club: The Next Chapter [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray/DVD]

Director: Bill Holderman Bill Holderman

Overview

A close-knit group of four women entering their golden years of life decides to embark on a no-holds-barred luxury excursion to Italy. United by their passion for literature and romance, the women experience a series of madcap adventures while deepening their bonds of friendship. Bill Holderman writes and directs the sequel to the 2018 film. Co-starring Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen, and Candice Bergen.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/11/2023
UPC:	0191329247518
Original Release:	2023
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Universal Studios
Language:	English
Time:	1:48:00
Sales rank:	11,272

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jane Fonda	Vivian
Diane Keaton	Diane
Mary Steenburgen	Carol
Candice Bergen	Sharon
Andy Garcia	Actor
Don Johnson	Arthur
Craig T. Nelson	Bruce
Hugh Quarshie	Adriano De Pasquale
Adriano De Pasquale	Bartender
Vincent Riotta	Actor
Grace Truly	Mario Russo
Mario Russo	Porter
Francesco Serpico	Street artist
Giampiero Judica	Donato
Pietro Angelini	Giovanni Esposito
Giovanni Esposito	Pasquale
Andrea Beruatto	Stefano
Vera Dragone	Sophia
Angelica Pascoe	Ugo Dighero
Ugo Dighero	Conductor
Brice Martinet	Police Officer
Robert Steiner	Priest

Technical Credits

Bill Holderman

Erin Simms

Bill Holderman	Producer,Screenwriter,Director
Erin Simms	Screenwriter,Producer
Brad Weston	Executive Producer
Trish Hofmann	Executive Producer
Enzo Sisti	Executive Producer
Andrew Duncan	Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

Bill Holderman and Erin Simms reunite on writing duties for Book Club: The Next Chapter, the sequel to their 2018 film Book Club. Holdeman once again directs the same lead and many of the same supporting actors, resulting in a fun film that caters to women but is pleasantly watchable by anyone. The pandemic is over, and the book club friends can reunite. The timing is excellent because Vivian (Jane Fonda) has a big announcement - she's finally getting married! This results in Vivian, Carol (Mary Steenburgen), Diane (Diane Keaton), and Sharon (Candice Bergen) ultimately agreeing that they should celebrate with a bachelorette's vacation in Italy. Since they'd always planned on touring that country together before, it is the perfect, and possibly final, chance for them to do so. The result is a three-day whirlwind tour with great wine, better food, adventures, misadventures, and more wine. Even though they've known each other for fifty years, the ladies still have some surprises up their sleeves for each other. At first glance, the film looks like another ladies-only story. On the surface, that is precisely what it is. But there is more to it than the simple misadventures of aging friends. Each is suffering from her own tragedies, and how the script is handled makes it a human story of friendship, loss, and growth. Even though they move quickly from scene to scene, it is often fluid and natural. They're on a very brief tour, so when they flit through, the audience moves right along with them without the haste seeming out of place. The four seasoned leads make the long-standing friendships organic - friendly insults, blunt truths, and a lot of book references inclusive. The cinematography is occasionally jerky, but that usually goes right along with the action and is probably intentional, if occasionally dizzying. The beautiful scenery of the friends' tour of Italy, which includes Rome, Venice, and Tuscany, makes up for it. However, like most of the rest of the film, they're on and gone pretty quickly. Book Club: The Next Chapter isn't a particularly high-minded story, nor does it pretend to be. Instead, it is a buddy film that doesn't overcomplicate the characters or make them caricatures of friendships. Instead, it opts to show the good-natured and often humorous side of relationships that have endured the test of time, successfully showing how individual pages in the women's lives bind them together.

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