Ten Stars or Less

I don’t know what it is, but this movie was hilarious. Maybe it was the entire cast, maybe it was the subject matter, or maybe it was just the chemistry of the characters and their stories. Whatever it was, everything came together and I fell for this movie. Every new twist in the story leads to either more laughs or heart-break. There are four stories at play here and some are stronger than the others. Diane Keaton’s character is really dumb, but she gets rescued by Andy Garcia who is simply one of the most underrated actors of all time. Call me crazy, but the guy just has the charisma to pull off such a role. Craig T. Nelson is making a come back on the big screen and although given limited screen time, is a major guy character to figure out what’s wrong with sweet Mary Steenburgen. I’ve never been a Candice Bergen fan, but admired her character here for being so guarded and cut off, yet managed to start a new chapter in her life. It took a lot of courage and I applauded her for making the efforts most people wouldn’t. Then there is Don Johnson, you know the guy whose daughter plays the lead character in a movie where she has sex all the time. His love for Jane Fonda’s character is admirable, because she is so shut off to the world, but his fire always burnt bright. One minute they are good, then bad, and then their moments could bring you to tears. Combined these stories tackled some of the toughest times in an adults life while providing humour in terms of sexual tensions at a late age. I wondered what was in store for us when we bought tickets, and out of the small crowd of us in attendance, we laughed the most. Book Club will probably drive more people crazy, but for those of you who like mature movies with talented people, this movie may surprise you like it did me. 8/10