Let Them All Talk (2020)
The natural style of dialogue and timing in Let Them All Talk was very impressive – at the beginning. Gemma Chan has a scene with Meryl Streep, trying to convince her to travel to Europe to accept a literary award, and as the obstacles pop up, you can actually see the wheels in her head turning. It’s realistic and compelling. But as the two hours progress, the style gets more and more irritating. Had all the pauses been cut out (either by the actors themselves or in the editing lab), the movie could have easily been half an hour shorter – and I, for one, would have been glad.
The story had such potential for drama and emotional acting, but Deborah Eisenberg’s screenplay didn’t take advantage of any of the opportunities. Meryl Streep plays a famous author who takes a cruise ship to Europe so she can accept an award. Her two estranged friends, Dianne Wiest and Candace Bergen, travel with her, along with her nephew, Lucas Hedges, and her agent Gemma. Gemma is traveling secretly, sent by her boss to keep an eye on Meryl, and she tries to cozy up to Lucas to gain inside information. Lucas, naturally, takes her attentions personally. Dianne and Candace have very personal reasons for distrusting and disliking Meryl, and in the decades of their friendship, they have each hurt each other deeply.
See what I mean? There was so much potential in that setup. The end result was very disappointing, so much so that I was aching for the closing credits to roll. Some scenes were cut off practically mid-sentence, while others dragged on and on with seemingly ad-libbed dialogue that didn’t accomplish anything. When my wish was finally granted, I was shocked to learn that Steven Soderbergh was the director. Couldn’t he have tightened up his picture, made it less grating on the nerves, or added storylines that tied in with one another? Obviously, the cast is enticing, but unless you like this style of “let the camera run without giving anyone direction or a script”, you probably won’t enjoy it.
More Meryl Streep movies here!
The story had such potential for drama and emotional acting, but Deborah Eisenberg’s screenplay didn’t take advantage of any of the opportunities. Meryl Streep plays a famous author who takes a cruise ship to Europe so she can accept an award. Her two estranged friends, Dianne Wiest and Candace Bergen, travel with her, along with her nephew, Lucas Hedges, and her agent Gemma. Gemma is traveling secretly, sent by her boss to keep an eye on Meryl, and she tries to cozy up to Lucas to gain inside information. Lucas, naturally, takes her attentions personally. Dianne and Candace have very personal reasons for distrusting and disliking Meryl, and in the decades of their friendship, they have each hurt each other deeply.
See what I mean? There was so much potential in that setup. The end result was very disappointing, so much so that I was aching for the closing credits to roll. Some scenes were cut off practically mid-sentence, while others dragged on and on with seemingly ad-libbed dialogue that didn’t accomplish anything. When my wish was finally granted, I was shocked to learn that Steven Soderbergh was the director. Couldn’t he have tightened up his picture, made it less grating on the nerves, or added storylines that tied in with one another? Obviously, the cast is enticing, but unless you like this style of “let the camera run without giving anyone direction or a script”, you probably won’t enjoy it.
More Meryl Streep movies here!