Review: "Let Them All Talk"
Saturday, December 12, 2020 at 1:20PM by Christopher James
Imagine a cruise ship movie starring Meryl Streep, Candice Bergen, Dianne Wiest and Lucas Hedges. With five Oscars, 26 Oscar nominations and 10 Emmy wins between them, Let Them All Talk was poised for greatness just on its logline alone. The new HBO Max film may sound like the perfect fluff while at home, but that would ignore the film’s not-so-secret ingredient. With director Steven Soderbergh at the helm, he steers the film away from madcap and into more contemplative, but far less calm, waters. Let Them All Talk may move more glacially than expected. Yet, what we’re left with is a thornier and more interesting look at a decades long friendship filled with fractures.
A renowned author, Alice (Meryl Streep) learns that she is receiving a prestigious award in England (“it’s not even given out every year,” she reminds everyone she encounters). Ever the diva, Alice wants to travel by style and not by plane...
Her new agent, Karen (Gemma Chan), sets her up with a luxurious multi-story stateroom on the Queen Mary 2 and allows her some cherished guests. Alice brings her old friends Roberta (Candice Bergen), a bra saleswoman in Texas, and Susan (Dianne Wiest), a Seattle matriarch, along for the ride. To take the median age down, Alice also lets her fawning nephew, Tyler (Lucas Hedges) join, though he soon becomes Karen’s confidant. She’s tasked by her agency with finding out what Alice’s new secret project is going to be about. Rumors start to fly that she’s working on a sequel to her biggest hit, which was largely inspired by Roberta.
There’s something disorienting about viewing these opulent, yet vacant, Queen Mary locations through Soderbergh’s static, low-fi digital filmmaking. All of Alice’s wealth and influence is a hollow facade that covers up the central conflict. Roberta and Susan rarely talk to Alice and aren’t great friends. This mismatch of value the women place in their friendships lends itself well to this talky, uncomfortable comedy. Short story writer Deborah Eisenberg wrote the film and takes these characters in an interesting direction. However, her and Soderbergh left the lines to actors mostly improvising, which proves to be a fascinating choice. Often it seems these estranged friends are trying to figure out what to say to each other.
It’s not that these actresses are stretching themselves. Rather, they’re subverting themselves. Meryl Streep’s name has become synonymous with “great acting.” Over her four decades long career, she has mastered every genre, accent and character known to man. Somewhere over the past decade or so, her projects have all felt designed for a marquee (“Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher/Julia Child/Insert Famous Broadway Role”), as if she were trying to have her star topple that of her favorite character. That’s what makes her work as Alice so wonderful. Soderbergh allows Streep the slack to improvise and fill dead space with acting choices. It would be so easy to have fun making Alice a narcissistic monster we laugh at. Yet, Streep makes you doubt the motivations behind her narcissism. Why does she want to surround herself with friends that she has tenuous relationships to. Just when you think you have a handle on her, Streep steers you in a different direction as gently as a cruise ship adjusts course.
Still, Candice Bergen walks away with the whole movie as if she had stuffed it in one of her oversized pieces of luggage. As a character, Roberta jumps off the screen from minute one. She has such clear and simple wants, which allows Bergen tons of opportunity to riff and have a good time. Watching Roberta in an all denim getup try and net herself a rich millionaire in the on-ship casino is pure joy. She later one ups herself with a hilarious scene where horniness and greed dictate her use of a spa gift card. While Roberta is primarily using the trip as her own private millionaire matchmaker episode, she feels most in control of the group dynamic. Alice’s most celebrated novel was pulled roughly from Roberta’s life and led to her divorce, leaving her broke. Roberta doesn’t give Alice the time of day, nor the fight of her life. She’s in self preservation mode.
In terms of plot function, Wiest gets the least to do. Still, she milks every moment she’s given as she acts as the group “peace-maker.” Her perfect line-readings and expressive reactions prove why she’s the best in the business. She knows how to cut through Alice’s oversized ego with a polite, yet weary, sigh. The world needs a gif of Wiest going “bow down bitch” during a board game with Candice Bergen ASAP.
Let Them All Talk will likely draw in viewers hoping for a Book Club-esque fun night at the movies. Absolutely give me that version of this film with the exact same cast and I’ll be a happy gay man. Yet, Steven Soderbergh instead gifts us with a sly exploration of the boundaries of friendship. It’s sharply observed, if often meandering. Still, it packs a punch and really delivers with a surprisingly affecting third act. Maybe we will get that raucous cruise movie we were sold later. The world deserves Let Them All Talk XXL. B+
Reader Comments (28)
"Bow down bitch" is the most delicious part of the movie! I had to stop and re-watch it immediately.
But, then again, I am a fool for everything Dianne Wiest will ever do. She's the Meryl Streep in my world.
Realm of the Owl by Blodwyn Pugh. Brilliant writing! God, I wish that was a real novel.
I really liked this! I had no expectations, but I was very much into the whole aesthetic and Streep/Bergen/Wiest were great together. And yes, I agree Bergen is the movie's MVP.
This is probably Streep's most subtle work in a few years and as much as I love her go all out, this quiet performance was lovely to witness again.
I had no idea there was a lot of improvisations (and the film was shot in 2 weeks!).
We enjoyed this movie immensely. Streep is in top form as is Wiest. Bergen does a fine job
in what is a juicy role for her.
My thought is that Streep will be in Oscar / Globe award contention for this rather than The Prom.
One question before I watch: Does soderbergh use his yellow-tinted hues throughout?
So is this eligible for Oscar or for Emmy? I’m so confused lol
O S C A R
HBO = Emmys
HBOMax = Oscars
Yes it’s really confusing when a tv channel launches a streaming service. 2020 is crazy
Yeeesssssss. Sometimes all you want is a secondary actor with a small role stealing the scene from the big star. Diane Wiest is a master at this. Sometimes I think I prefer supporting actors like Thelma Ritter, Claude Rains, Hattie McDaniel, Gale Sondergaard, Spring Byinton, Charles Coburn, Una O'Connor, Edna May Oliver, Edward Everett Horton ...
So, Candice Bergen going to a second nomination for Actress in a Supporting Role?
Hmm. I mean, I'm also the kind of guy whose ideal version of a movie called Book Club would be, y'know, "get a bunch of great actors for some loosely connected, possibly improvised, vignettes of varying tones about a set of great books." And I hope someone actually makes that one day, because I think I would watch THE CRAP out of that. Don't even need a climax or ANY sort of overarching plot.
Very curious to see if Streep is nominated for Best Actress in this since it is really the only movie HBO Max will be campaigning for. Some of her best reviews in awhile this week. I wonder with Netflix’s crowded slate of nominations if they attempt to put Meryl in supporting for The Prom? Very interesting situation this year. I went into the film not really knowing what to expect but absolutely loved it. Bergen for supporting as well!
I’d love to know what was written and what was improvised. Dianne Wiest’s monologue about the stars was great.
@DAVID An Emmy spokesperson has said that if a film that was available for streaming is submitted for Oscar consideration, then it is immediately disqualified from the Emmys.
They've set the logical rule.
Looooooved Dianne Wiest in this and thought Bergen was A+ excellent whenever she was looking at Streep like she wanted to slap her (virtually every scene haha) if less so in other moments. I totally hear what you're saying about the improv and how it lends to the discomfort but I wish Sodebergh had *directed" more as it does feel very meandering and lots of sequences that feel like filler and that you dont need at all... like underscore over montages of the characters moving around.
strange choices but i also enjoyed it. Though Streep was really good in the last few scenes once you start to get a handle on how disconnected she really is from basically everyone (except Tyler -- aka Lucas)
So, Meryl gets a double nomination?
I thought the movie was kind of slow and meandering but it's really refreshing to watch Meryl in a low-key performance. Wiest and Bergen were also excellent. At the same time, I don;t think any of the performances will snag an Oscar nomination - it's too quiet for the Academy's liking.
This was a perfect early Christmas present, I didn't know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised to be surprised. Kudos to Streep, Bergen, and Wiest. And a big thank you to Sodebergh for pulling this off.
I wanted to like it, I really did. To say that most of the movie was meandering is being nice. All they seemed to do was sit around and Talk About Things and then move to another place and Talk About Things some more. Candice Bergen has a good time being sort of outrageous. Dianne Weist (sp?) was more or less wasted. Meryl is very good. I'm not sorry I watched it - it was comforting, after all - to see a movie with 3 well-know actresses over 70.
My favorite Meryl performance since “Prada.”
Bergen’s best film performance since the 70s/80s.
Wiest’s best since Rabbit Hole.
Soderbergh’s best since Magic Mike.
It’s stylish, delicately observed, beautifully acted, funny, grown-up. It’ll be on my best picture list for sure.
These comments are making Let Them All Talk sound like a French film from the late '70s. Now I'm even more intrigued to see it (especially after watching The Prom, which clearly exists in a different cinematic universe).
Love all the enthusiasm and chatter around this title.
In terms of awards prospects, I wouldn't expect Meryl to get nominated for it, even if she is good in it. I prefer her here rather than "The Prom," but I think she's having tremendous fun in both.
Bergen would be a GREAT nominee, but I don't see it happening. Mayyyybe if this gets Globes traction she can sneak in. She would be very worthy, but I'm not predicting it.
@Kenny: It's not really yellow tinted but it looks VERY Soderbergh
ggwp
Really enjoyed, but surprised that so much time was spent on the Chan/Hedges plot instead of giving us more of the core trio. Also for a lot of it this felt like it could turn into a murder mystery at any moment, and considering that it's Soderbergh, I half believe they tried it and that cut of the movie exists somewhere.
To say Meryl gave “phenomenal performances in "The Prom" and "Let Them All Talk" “ is such a gross overstatement. Meryl is solid but this over praising is getting ridiculous.
Stop putting Lucas Hedges in every indie. He’s dull.
Just saw this and I think it really works. Like others, I was expecting Soderbergh's take on Something's Gotta Give/Book Club. This is far more melancholic and emotionally rich.
Streep is very good here and plays her character with precision. However, I do wonder if she leans into the oddities of Alice a bit too much, rather than fleshing her out in the way she did with someone like Susan Orlean. I also just wish we got a few more scenes with her.
Gemma Chan was really great here, and I think she clearly knew her character and built something real. It'd be great to see her mentioned somewhere. Candice Bergen, though, really takes this film. She *almost* feels like the lead given how much of a driver she is of the central conflict. I'd love to see Bergen nominated again, but it felt like the film was one scene short. Her final scene with Streep could seal the deal, but I'm not sure she has enough to make it in. I did love, though, that her Roberta is very clearly not Murphy Brown or Shirley Schmidt.
All this fawning over these actresses is ridiculous. My wife and I (both retirees) sat down to this movie expecting something but got nothing out of it. The plot was unbelievable ... who goes on a cruise with someone you haven't seen in decades and then once on the ship the girls don't come together to greet each other until the ship is under way. Wiest is a terrible actress in our opinion. I'm glad we didn't pay to watch this terrible movie, it was like watching paint dry. Matter of fact we didn't even make it halfway through, we turned it off.
Hedges isn’t getting enough credit in this thread. His character is the heart of the movie, and we see so much of it through his eyes. He’s just as good as his legendary costars, which is saying a lot.