What a disappointment. Director Steven Soderbergh has assembled an all-star cast where little happens. Meryl Streep plays Alice, a renowned novelist cruising to England on the QE2 to accept yet another literary award. She has invited her two estranged college friends, played by Dianne Wiest and Candice Bergen, to join her in the hope of reconnecting with them, along with her doting nephew, played by Lucas Hedges.
Meryl, as always, is pitch perfect as the self-absorbed Alice and she is given the meatiest role here. But Dianne and Candice, two supremely talented actresses, are weighed down by the sheer lack of their characters having little important to say or do, other than playing board games. And Lucas is not only playing the exact same character that he did in FRENCH EXIT, his wardrobe, make-up and hair are so identical that I wondered if this was the only look his agent permitted. Add to that, the director’s penchant for an orange lens filter overwhelms so many of the scenes on the ship, so much so that it became distracting. Scripts for women of a certain age in Hollywood (read over 40) are sorely lacking – we all know that – but ultimately, this movie is supremely boring, making the screenplay by Deborah Eisenberg such the disappointment.
With little stakes, tension or goals, LET THEM ALL TALK, is yours to miss on HBO MAX.
