Lightdeossk
Captivating movie !
Voxitype
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
Sarita Rafferty
There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
Movielover Truth
This showed up on netflix recently, and I watched the first season.The show started out reasonably funny, a decent plot concept, but then, pretty much moved away from the original theme of book group, discussing books and meeting friends to how many different types of sexual behaviour can we put in a TV series? What did it miss other than bestiality?infidelity - everyone's cheating on everyone (dark humor? uh, no)bisexuality - not only is everyone cheating on everyone, but cheating with both sexes, woohoo! so "progressive"group sexswapping partnersgratuitous sexgay football player sex (whatever), but yeah, football players seem to be heavy in the marrying women as a front, and cheating on other men and women. yeah, okay.party timeI watched this show because I also liked the Green Wing actress, and recognized the lead female from the old House series.Sex in place of humor? yea And, it's not even that funny.Can't write a good script? Character development? Just go for gratuitous sex, of all kinds. That will keep them hooked...Dumb show. Too bad. It started out well.
The_late_Buddy_Ryan
This smart, dark UK comedy series showcased the fabulous Anne Dudek a couple of years before she made her bones playing meanies or crazies on American TV (most notably the hyperintense Dr. Amber Volakis on "House"). Here she's Clare, a prickly American expat and the instigator of the book group; another heavy hitter, Rory McCann (Sandor Clegane, "The Hound," on "Game of Thrones"), is exceptional as Kenny, a sweet-natured giant now confined to a wheelchair by a climbing accident; James Lance is suitably repulsive as Barney, a temperamental grad student, in the first season and again as Lachlan, Clare's overattentive boyfriend, in the second. Inspired by the group's first book, Kerouac's "On the Road," Clare and Kenny start writing novels (or pecking out their romantic fantasies) on their laptops; the fantasy sequences don't always add much, but Anne Dudek looks great when she lets her hair down as a tweedy Dryden scholar. A lot of the stuff aboot the fitba' went right by me, and the sexy soccer mamas are a bit over the top at times, but Michelle Gomez has some nice moments as Janice, a Real Housewife of Glasgow who goes all out for self-improvement, and Derek Riddell is adorable (if not always comprehensible) as Rab, a shifty guy in a tracksuit wha disnae much care for buiks. The first season has real momentum as the characters get involved (mostly in pursuit of unrequited crushes) in each other's lives, the second's a lot less focused, though partly redeemed by the presence of comic Karen Kilgariff as Clare's tough-talking sister. The second season ends on an ambiguous but upbeat note, and Anne D. gets to show her softer, gentler side with a little karaoke number in the series closer. Final grade: eight stars for the first season, six for the second, docked one star for the unsubtitled Dutch, Swedish, Spanish and Arabic. Finally, this is a bit off topic but how many would like to read a fanfic about a coed kickball league in Hell featuring rival captains Amber Volakis and Sandor Clegane (he must be dead by now, right?)? No longer available on streaming Netflix, I'm sorry to say.
dr_salter
Hey! I have been sitting watching the TV series "The Book Group" (2002) & thinking how much I love their sarcasm & wit. And now I have found that Annie Griffin directed an earlier series "Coming Soon" (1999) and 'The Book Group' (2002-3). Both series have that same brew of almost reality, where life is acted out through the comedic antics of the winners & losers within the screenplay.The tone of truly delightful, witty sarcasm and creamy cutting wit is the thing that I unwittingly connected with in both series, and it is the characters in 'Coming Soon' (1999) & The Book Group's characters' continuous unveiling of how they try to remain true to themselves, & FAIL GLORIOUSLY that brings out what I love about the two series. Gradually, we begin to get an idea of what is behind the characters' closed doors and understand that there could be a tenuous connection to what most people consider 'normal' but within these people there are many shades and depth of how we all try to connect with reality, maybe miss the mark, then struggle, but move onwards & upwards.You know I did not know till I checked IMDb! that "The Book Group' was connected to my old favourite series "Coming Soon". AND here it is! Sorry about all the exclamation marks !!! but I am SO elated to find Annie Griffin's gooey, blueberry coated finger in both wonderfully told tales of Scottish (Glasgow) extremist, eccentric behaviours. "The Book Group" brings us the great work of Derek Riddell as Rab: taciturn tracksuit wearer, who reveals little about himself, has stubble, and literally loves footballers. The wonderful James Lance (from TV's 'Absolute Power') as Barney Glendenning- pretentious, opinionated post-graduate student with blonde highlights & drug problem. Karen Kilgariff as Jean Pettengill Claire's awful, overbearing older sister, who arrives in Glasgow wanting to share Claire's exciting lifestyle and Rory McCann as the wheelchair bound Kenny. James Lance also plays Lachlan Glendenning- pretentious, bearded, bespectacled brother of Barney, who claims to be an installation artist. Their lives are wonderfully wacky and I recommend you all try to find them on DVD & see how great both series really are.
bob the moo
A lonely American girl living in Scotland advertises a book group in a local shop window to help her meet people. For the first meeting she has a strange mix of people arrive for the discussion. Kenny is a leisure center attendant in a wheelchair, Barney is a pompous English dope fiend, Fist and Dirka are Swedish football wives, Rab is a working class football fan and Janice is a football wife struggling to be seen as smart and as confident as everyone else. As the group gets to know each other better the characters come out more and the books provide only an excuse for the collage of feelings and experiences that are really exposed within the group.This started it's run in the slot of the brilliant Black Books. Channel 4 were keen to keep the laughing Friday night audience it had captured with Black Books and Fraiser and hence launched The book Group as a comedy similar to that other Book title. However the two have little in common except the word book. The Book Group was initially a disappointment – I spent the first ten minutes trying to laugh too hard, feeling I had to try because it was supposed to be wacky and hilarious. Once I got past this I found it was more comedy based on characters rather than surreal humour.This has actually made it more rewarding and the comedy is better because it is more liberally scattered rather than the scattergun approach of Black Books. But the real money here is the characters and their stories. We find out more and more about them each week and get more and more involved in their stories. I've just finished watching the first (but hopefully not only) series, but I won't talk too much about the stories as it may spoil it. But the characters get more detailed each week – some in surprising ways! It's a little stretched at times, but most of it works. Yes – the series may drift away from the actual reading of books for some episodes but then the actually discussing of books was never the focus of the programme anyway.All the cast are great – Dudek (also popping up in ER) is great as Clare – the first episode is an example of how she can play cool on the surface but let things bubble just beneath – and then explode in an emotional overflow. McCann is great as Kenny – able to display his frustartions and hurt (?) at his situation – but more so at the different ways he is treated, as a sex object by some and a object of pity by others. James Lance is great as the least likeable of the characters while Mulder and Engstrom are great as the football wives. Riddell is brave as Rab. Gomez is mixed as Janice – it's hard to tell. At first I thought she was poor because I thought she did a poor show of being confident – then I realised that was the point, then her breakdowns etc and her efforts to show everyone how smart she is come off really well.Overall it has it's weaknesses – but it has developed over the 6 shows and would be a welcome return for series 2.
