Rating 12
Length 1h48
Release 12.05.2023
Director Bill Holderman
About Four best friends take their book club to Italy for the fun girls’ trip they never had. When things go off the rails, and secrets are revealed, their relaxing vacation turns into a once-in-a-lifetime cross-country adventure.
Moon: full moon during the evening meal
Where to Watch: Now TV
Trailer:
The Good
The four friends are well cast and it’s fun to see them take on a ‘trip abroad’ that normally would be teens or young adults. It allows for slightly different age-related tropes.
The presentation of Covid-19 was really well done and a good way to start the film and catch up with the four leads. However, I would say the rest of the proceedings do sort of move on as if there’s no further issue, but then again that is typical for society today.
It’s nice to have both Giancarlo Giannini (Bond) and Hugh Quarshie (Star Wars Prequels) on board to woo the ever wonderful Candice Bergen.
The Bad
There’s a tense threat that the tight-knit group is going to have a falling out that never transpires. As a result of this film being so loyal to its predictable plotting, it leaves the audience tense with expectation.
I don’t care that it is a fake out; Mary Steenburgen doesn’t cheat and I hate that even for a second I had to envision an ending where she has to break Craig T Nelson’s heart. Not funny. Not funny at all.
The Ugly
It’s all too predictable, and the bits that weren’t obvious were made as such by deliberate narration. Yes, there’s some comfort in it, but not all was necessary. It also makes the fake-outs predictable too.
Final Thoughts
An easy, offence-less, plot by numbers sequel.
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