Let Them All Talk
Ratings: 2/5
Duration: 01 Hr 53 Mins
Language: English
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Deborah Eisenberg
Producers: Corey Bayes, Gregory Jacobs, Joseph Malloch, Ken Meyer
Music: Thomas Newman
Cinematography: Steven Soderbergh
Editing: Steven Soderbergh
Art Direction: Andy Eklund, Amie English
Release Date: 10 December 2020 (USA)
Released On: HBOmax
Star Cast: Gemma Chan, Meryl Streep, Dianne Wiest, Candice Bergen, Lucas Hedges, Christopher Fitzgerald, Saskia Larsen, Pete Meads
Plot: A famous author Alice (Meryl Streep) is struggling to pen her next book. Her new literary agent Karen (Gemma Chan) wanted Alice to write a sequel to one of her most popular books – but Alice doesn’t seem interested. Alice is also due to accepting an award in England, but she stresses that she can’t fly. Therefore, Karen comes up with a solution - she will book Alice on the QE2, and Alice can ride the ship from New York to the UK, and along the way, she can also work on her new book.
Alice goes for the idea and invites her nephew (Lucas Hedges), and two oldest friends Roberta (Candice Bergen) and Susan (Dianne Wiest) to join her.
Once at sea it becomes clear that the dear old friends aren’t friendly. Alice barely spends any time with them. Also, Roberta is harboring displeasure, as she is convinced that a character in one of Alice’s books was based on her – and she wasn’t alone in that assumption. In fact, the book directly broke up Roberta’s marriage and, in her eyes, ruined her life. As a result, she gives Alice the cold shoulder every chance she gets. So why come on the cruise at all? The director of the film Steven Soderbergh gets to that eventually, and that forms the story.
Review: Here in the age of the coronavirus, a cruise trip feels weirdly dated as it is set in a world where people gather freely, maskless, enjoying the wind, and that is almost surreal at this point. Anticipating all of this, the director of the film Steven Soderbergh is quick to tell us up front that the entire film is set in 2019. However, the viewers can’t help being distracted by how different the world of the film seems!
Nevertheless, the film that is shot in just under 14 days is low in temperature, due to its drawn-out, relaxed narrative. It moves at the same sort of drifting pace as an ocean liner, lumbering along, taking its time.
Deborah Eisenberg‘s script (which was apparently more of a loose story outline that the cast riffed on) isn’t interested in big dramatic confrontations. Even the film changes the subject, for instance, for a kind of crazy romance between Lucas Hedges and Gemma Chan. In short, all the pieces are in place, but ‘Let Them All Talk’ isn’t interested in putting them together.
When it comes to performances, Meryl Streep’s Alice comes across as cold and aloof at first, but there is more to her than what meets the eye.
Whereas, Candice Bergen and Dianne Wiest are both a hoot as friends, with Candice Bergen’s Roberta given much more to do. While Dianne Weist’s Susan feels oddly underused. Even Lucas Hedges is delightful as the doting, lovesick nephew, while Gemma Chan’s lit agent seems like the most grounded individual in the group.
Overall, Let Them All Talk’s journey is like a quick vacation that immediately starts to fade from memory the moment it finally reaches its destination!
