"Let Them All Talk" has a great asset besides its amazing stellar cast formed by Meryl Streep, Dianne Wiest, Candice Bergen, Gemma
Chan and Lucas Hedges, and director Steven Soderbergh ("Traffic", "Contagion"): the ship Queen Mary 2, where the majority of its "story"
takes place as a conflicted writer (Streep) gathers her two longtime best friends (Bergen and Wiest) and young nephew (Hedges) as she tries to
come up with a new awaited book, and to go to England to attend an award event. When I say that the marvellous ship is a major asset is not a
light statement as the story is built around it, inside the real thing with the actors mixed with real passengers on a long cruise. This is
a unique case where you actually feel part of the experience on board of Queen Mary 2 rather than a set constructed for a movie.
With the forementioned names attached one goes in a rush to buy the popcorn and everything. Turn it down because this voyage of a film is a little damned, doesn't offer much for a long while and only gets mildly interesting when the crisis from the characters becomes deeper. But until you get there it's a series of cliched formulas on best seller novellists and how they use their surroundings to compose their novels, and how those close people can feel betrayed rather than honored with fictional retellings of their lives. It's not the end of the world but you may get a little seasick.
Deborah Eisenberg screenplay might have some punch-ups that sound humorous but aren't, and in fact, the actors were all given free reign to compose their lines and characters.
It's an excellent exercise for actors, they love the experience as it allows them to be more creative with the film process, almost as if being on stage. The films made by Mike Leigh are exactly like that as he gives some background and a key scenario, and the rest is up to actors to come up with, and later on Leigh accepts the ideas and puts into the final screenplay. Think about "Secrets and Lies", "Happy-Go-Lucky" or "Another Year" (if you had the chance to see those or any of Leigh films). His films work brilliantly; "Let Them All Talk" doesn't.
It's not because it's spectacular bad or anything like it. It simply fails to convince for the most part, with many little mysteries inside itself and a humor that does not come out strong or clever. But the drama, some of it, hits some strong notes without being too emotional. The cast is well tuned, with some problematic bits but they're charming together even though they spend most of the time apart from each other, as the three friends avoid one another as the Streep character has a busy working schedule and isn't there to enjoy the presence of others. There are a few themes that worked in a fine way, such as Hedges character wish to understand how older generations had a more natural connection with each other as opposed to the internet generations and their virtual relationships.
But the ocean liner was a real treat to see and Mr. Soderbergh surely knew how to film everything with a particular style that allows us see everything, with care and detail. Pity that I can't thumbs up a movie over just this element, otherwise this and "Speed 2: Cruise Control" would rank high on my esteem. 5/10.
With the forementioned names attached one goes in a rush to buy the popcorn and everything. Turn it down because this voyage of a film is a little damned, doesn't offer much for a long while and only gets mildly interesting when the crisis from the characters becomes deeper. But until you get there it's a series of cliched formulas on best seller novellists and how they use their surroundings to compose their novels, and how those close people can feel betrayed rather than honored with fictional retellings of their lives. It's not the end of the world but you may get a little seasick.
Deborah Eisenberg screenplay might have some punch-ups that sound humorous but aren't, and in fact, the actors were all given free reign to compose their lines and characters.
It's an excellent exercise for actors, they love the experience as it allows them to be more creative with the film process, almost as if being on stage. The films made by Mike Leigh are exactly like that as he gives some background and a key scenario, and the rest is up to actors to come up with, and later on Leigh accepts the ideas and puts into the final screenplay. Think about "Secrets and Lies", "Happy-Go-Lucky" or "Another Year" (if you had the chance to see those or any of Leigh films). His films work brilliantly; "Let Them All Talk" doesn't.
It's not because it's spectacular bad or anything like it. It simply fails to convince for the most part, with many little mysteries inside itself and a humor that does not come out strong or clever. But the drama, some of it, hits some strong notes without being too emotional. The cast is well tuned, with some problematic bits but they're charming together even though they spend most of the time apart from each other, as the three friends avoid one another as the Streep character has a busy working schedule and isn't there to enjoy the presence of others. There are a few themes that worked in a fine way, such as Hedges character wish to understand how older generations had a more natural connection with each other as opposed to the internet generations and their virtual relationships.
But the ocean liner was a real treat to see and Mr. Soderbergh surely knew how to film everything with a particular style that allows us see everything, with care and detail. Pity that I can't thumbs up a movie over just this element, otherwise this and "Speed 2: Cruise Control" would rank high on my esteem. 5/10.