Film: Let Them All Talk

From 2020

It was the only film I saw during 4 - FOUR - flights on a recent trip to Toronto via Reykavik both ways.

There was nothing to see, so I read a lot and watched 3 episodes of a comedy I’ve forgotten but will recognise when it turns up on Sky Comedy one day.

In this, Meryl Streep plays Alice, a well-known author with a touch of diva and writer's block. Having won a literary prize, her young publicist persuades her to go to the UK via ship as she refuses to fly to collect it. With such a vast budget offered, to make it an adventure, Alice invites her nephew, Tyler, as her trusted assistant and two university friends (Dianne Wiest and Candice Bergen), from whom she has been estranged for some years.

It was lovely seeing the splendour of the ship every time the three met for dinner and sat quietly, whereas when the old friends met on their own, they were incredibly chatty.

There are a few reasons why the author is aloof from the friends. Meanwhile, we get a bit of a backstory of the publicist (Gemma Chan) although, less about the nephew she befriends to get closer to his aunt.

It’s a bit like a whodunit.

Eventually, the stories entwine. The cast includes a mystery man that Alice seems to know and another famous author, much to the joy of her friends. They will obviously bump into each other on a ship.

It’s OK for a plane movie, especially as it stars the Queen Mary 2.

6/10