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Focus Features releases Book Club: The Next Chaption in theaters nationwide on May 12th, 2023. NYC MOVIE GURU: Between entertaining the audience and provoking them emotionally, which of those two elements was most challenging to tweak in the editing room? Bill Holderman: Our goal is always to do both. I think that the fine-tuning is really to maximize the emotional impact of certain things when you get into editing. You hope that the entertainment value is there in totality and that the script and the story are entertaining, but I think that the fine-tuning and all the great work that gets done in post-production can really dial-in and ramp up the emotional engagement. Erin Simms: It's all, sort of, musical, right? You want to make sure that the comedy is rhythmically keeping you engaged and that you feel like you're being taken on a journey without feeling the gears turning. So, it's both. They go hand-in-hand. If the emotions don't land, then the comedy doesn't land. NYC MOVIE GURU: How would you define the term "cinematic"? What do you think makes Book Club: The Next Chapter cinematic? BH: What's interesting is the term cinematic, if you think about cinema as a whole, it's an artform that, relatively, is still young. There are so many films that audiences have become very, very smart, and expectations are always evolving and increasing. At least for me with these films, cinematic means that you're doing something that feels worthy of the actual cinema experience---going to a movie, which means big and having that sense of scope and that sense of being taken to another world. Also, cinematic is making sure that the humanity of the characters and the relationships are equally as big and significant. For us, the friendships of these four women set against the backdrop of Italy is, kind of, the blend of those two sides of the cinematic experience. I think that that was our goal, certainly. ES: Cinematic, to me, is also when you're completely immersed in what you're watching, and the barrier between you and watching it objectively has disappeared. The question is, "Can you get the audience to that place?"--whether it's an amazing drama that's getting an Oscar or an incredible comedy where you just forget yourself and you're completely in. NYC MOVIE GURU: Which of the four women, Diane, Vivian, Carol and Sharon, was most challenging for you to capture their heart, mind and soul through the screenplay? BH: There was no one who was more or less difficult. They're all very unique and individual. The benefit that we have in these movies is that we have 4 actors who are so talented and they bring so much to the characters. So with their relationship with the audience, you're already halfway there because of their baseline skill. ES: And their history. BH: Then it's just about fine-tuning it and making sure that the words that we're putting in their mouths feel authentic to them. Through that prism, you feel like if it's working for them and it's working for the story then it's probably an equation of a pretty good character build. What's tricky is also making sure that we have balance, right? You have 4 very strong female characters and we want to make sure that we service all of them and that the friendship of all of them doesn't tip too much in one direction or another. That's one of the biggest challenges: making sure that everyone feels like they're getting their day in court. NYC MOVIE GURU: What was the process like to incorporate the innuendo into the screenplay? It reminds me of the innuendo from the screwball comedies during Golden Age of American Cinema like Bringing Up Baby. BH: We love that stuff. If you spend 20 minutes in our kitchen, you would realize that innuendos are maybe easier than we'd like to admit. ES: Yeah, innuendos is the part that comes most naturally---see, everything is a joke! In the first Book Club, there was Fifty Shades of Grey and the whole premise of the movie was about sex, basically. So, it's challenging trying to not go too far in doing something that we've already done, but making sure that we're maintaining what the audience loves and what we love. They're just like us. We continue making jokes and continue living your life just like when we were 20 all the way until then end. BH: Part of the joy is to have a good innuendo and this level of actors deliver it with such grace. I think that that feels cinematic, also. NYC MOVIE GURU: There's a wonderful scene when the four women are in the car together and Vivian asks Carol point-blank if she wanted to cheat on her husband. What do you think that says about Vivian as a friend? How would you define a good friend? BH: I think that being a good friend is understanding where your friend's mind and heart is at, also. It's not just standing on some moral high ground or giving them a pass just because they're your friend. It's also having that connection and understanding of what they, as an individual, are interested in. For Vivian, she's someone who you can look at her lifestyle and be like,"Oh, she's always looking for that freedom and that expression of love and sex, but I think that in that moment, it was really understanding that maybe we really need to dig into Carol and see where's Carol's heart and mind---not just that she felt like she did the right thing, but, "Did she do the right thing with the right intention or did she get scared?" It's just part of the authenticity of friendship. ES: It's with your best friends that you can tell the truth to and they're not going to hold it against you. That's what a best friend is: somebody who's like, "I understand that this is a moment in time." Carol is dealing with a lot of issues---the fear and all of that---and wanting to distract herself and feel something youthful. It's only your best friends who can understand the whole picture. They've known you their entire lives. They get where you've been, where you are, and where you're going. NYC MOVIE GURU: Which of you wrote that Vivian's line that I was referring to? ES: That's something that he [Bill Holderman] wrote. He's very knowing [of women]. He reads my mind and it drives me insane. There was a lot of con BH: You're, honestly, a very astute viewer. We appreciate it. It's very, very nice. ES: There was a lot of conversation about how the audience feels that they don't want Carol to cheat. They get very nervous that she's going to and feel very relieved when she doesn't and that tells you a lot about how they feel about her character and just in general. So, we were towing that line, also: how do we make it realistic? She was, probably, a little bit tempted, but for the wrong reasons. It wasn't a real temptation. She's not over her husband. NYC MOVIE GURU: How would you define the term "grown-up"? How grown up are Diane, Carol, Vivian and Sharon? BH: It's interesting because I think that we, as people, think that there's going to be a point in life where we get to an age or stage when we have it figured out. These actors are the first to tell you: that doesn't happen. You're learning, you're always growing and you're always evolving. The best part of life is being open to that continual evolution. A grown-up is a weird term. The best grown-ups are the people who are still growing up. Trying to delineate between real childhood and youth and grown-ups is silly because you carry those same characteristics until it's over. That's the best part. By the way, these women, they're not grown-ups because they're out there having fun. They can be rascals, and they are. They're having a blast. They really are. ES: I think that it's just a thing with people where you've been told or you have an expectation that you'll hit a certain age and you're going to be grown-up and you're going to have it all figured out. It's a great disappointment to find out that there are more and more challenges and that you haven't figured your shit out and have to keep working on yourself. I think that people get really disappointed by that, so it's a great thought for people to realize that you're always going to grow, always going to push yourself and always going to have to get out of your comfort zone. There is no comfort zone. It's not coming. Life is in that grey. BH: One of the core themes that made us want to write the movie is this idea that we think, at a certain point, we get to an age that, all of a sudden, our lives are controlled by fate. We can take our hands off the wheel and someone else is on top of it and we don't have the ability to change things anymore. I think that's what people feel like being a grown-up, but what we're trying to say is that that's exactly wrong. You still have control and can still make those changes and pivot it and do whatever you think you want to do. It's in your control. Grab the steering wheel and turn where you want to go. NYC MOVIE GURU: Which characters from cinema do you think Diane, Carol, Vivian and Sharon would get along with? Are there any films from the Golden Age of American Cinema that you can imagine them in? BH: I would like to see our 4 women walk into Rick's Café from Casablanca. I'd love to see them walk in and just hang out in that environment and see what happens. ES: I'd love to see them in a room with so many people--first of all the Golden Girls. Also, Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds and Zendaya. They should be with everybody. The more, the merrier. They come into a room and things change and things happen. I love that they don't put themselves down like, "I'm older. These are the younger stars." Betty White would be incredible. BH: I think that they'd blow a lot of minds if they were in some of those films from the Golden Age of Cinema just because our moral compasses are shifting so much, and the ethos of these women set against a movie from back then... ES: Something like Lawrence of Arabia! We want them on a camel! Main Page Interviews Menu Alphabetical Menu Chronological Menu ______________________________________________________ |
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