Sharon (Candice Bergen) announces that she’s done with romance in the trailer for “Book Club.” “We are four smart, successful women,” she declares to her friends (Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, and Mary Steenburgen). “I don’t need a man — what is the point?” Diane (Keaton) agrees: “Who still has any interest?” she wonders.
But Vivian (Fonda) isn’t giving up, and she’s refusing to leave her pals behind. “Ladies, I am not gonna let us become those people who stop living before they stop living,” she says before pulling out a copy of “Fifty Shades of Grey.”
“Book Club” follows the four women as they read the “Fifty Shades” series. Turns out the BDSM adventures of Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey re-awaken the ladies’ lust for life — and, well, their lust, period. Diane and Vivian reconnect with former loves, Carol (Steenburgen) tries to spice things up with her husband, and Sharon enters the world of online dating.
The directorial debut of producer Bill Holderman (“A Walk in the Woods”),“Book Club” is that rare film that focuses on women over age 65. It’s even more noteworthy because it presents the women as sexual beings — movies tend to ignore older women’s sex lives when they’re not making fun of them.
“Book Club” opens May 18. Holderman penned the script with actress-producer Erin Simms (“Our Souls at Night”).
