Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen return in this sequel to the 2018 hit, this time reading Paulo Coelho’s 'The Alchemist' and heading to Italy for wine-soaked fun
A movie like "Book Club: The Next Chapter" might as well be reverse-engineered to plunge a self-respecting critic into an existential crisis. As art, this sequel to the surprise 2018 hit - a giggly, feather-light mom-com starring Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Diane Keaton and Mary Steenburgen - is borderline indefensible. Directed by Bill Holderman from a script he co-wrote with Erin Simms, this choppily paced, tonally uneven series of corny gags and heartfelt girl talks has the brightly lit, banal aesthetic that signals Hollywood at its most lazily mediocre.