Despite the name “Astronaut,” a new film starring Richard Dreyfuss, is a decidedly earth-bound drama.
Dreyfuss plays Angus, an elderly, retired civil engineer grieving the loss of his late wife. As he prepares to sell the home they shared he stays with daughter Molly (Krista Bridges), son-in-law Jim (Lyriq Bent) and grandson Barney (Richie Lawrence) before taking the next step of moving into a retirement home. In frail health, he senses the end is near but is given a boost when he gets the chance to fulfill a childhood dream courtesy of a contest from billionaire Marcus Brown’s (Colm Feore) Ventura Space Program’s private shuttle launch. It’s a “lottery for someone who thinks big” that will send twelve lucky people into orbit. Angus is too old and too sick, but he has always dreamed of going to space. “People have been looking up at the stars forever,” he says, “and I think it’s always for the same reason. To see where we belong.”
“Astronaut” never quite gets airborne but has its charms courtesy of the straightforward storytelling and nice performances. It’s lovely to see Dreyfuss in a film that allows him to show the character’s humanity while still looking at the stars. It also stirs up nostalgic feelings, like a lo-fi revisit of his character from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” He anchors the film, whether he is interacting with his grandson or relating to Len (Graham Greene), a non-verbal resident in the nursing home, in a performance infused with the gravitas of an older person trying to assert his worth.
“Astronaut” makes some obvious choices that prevent it from fully taking flight—a dance sequence at the nursing home is particularly awful—but has enough to say about aging and following your dreams to earn it a look for family audiences.
For the Johnson family “Fifty Shades of Grey” is the gift that keeps on giving. First Dakota Johnson became a star playing the book’s lead character in the film adaptation. Now her father, Don Johnson, appears in “Book Club,” a tale of four women inspired by the erotic novel to spice up their sex lives.
Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen star as life long friends at different places in their lives. Diane (Keaton) is a recent widow, federal judge Sharon (Bergen) obsesses about her decades old divorce while sensualist Vivian (Fonda) plays the field and Carol (Steenburgen), a chef who wonders if her marriage is headed for the rocks.
The pals have been getting together for book club for forty years—starting with “Fear of Flying,” Erica Jong’s controversial 1973 portrayal of female sexuality. Their lives are shaken up when Vivian brings a new book over. “Ladies I’m not going to let us become those people who stop living before they stop living,” she says. “I would like to introduce you to Christian Grey.” “Fifty Shades of Grey,” the soft core look at hard core BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism), becomes the hit of their chardonnay soaked book club—“It says for ‘mature audiences.’” “That certainly sounds like us.”—stirring up some long forgotten desires.
Like the classic rock on the soundtrack “Book Club” is not ashamed of what it is. Predictable in the extreme, it’s a movie that understands its audience and never over reaches. Like I well-worn joke it sets up the premise, delivers a punchline and waits for the laugh. It’s comfort food, a lightly raunchy sitcom about finding love later in life. Ripe with double entendres, it’s a genial boomer sex comedy about the pleasures of listening to vinyl, connecting and reconnecting, about a generation gap and living life to the fullest.
“We’re sure not spring flowers,” says Carol. “More like potpourri,” replies Vivian. They are women of a certain age but in an industry that often ignores older women it is fun to see this quartet front and centre. Bergen wields her wit and delivery like a sabre. Steenburgen’s journey is more about her husband Bruce (Craig T. Nelson) but she brings much charm to the role. Fonda is the vulnerable sexpot, never allowing anyone to get too close (“I don’t need anyone,” she says. “That’s the secret of my success.”) while Keaton’s trademarked fluster and flap is on full display. Together they evoke “Sex and the City” for a different generation.
The men of “Book Club” are fine—Andy Garcia, Don Johnson, Richard Dreyfuss and Nelson—but it is the women, their connection and their groove that makes this movie so enjoyable.
