This appears to be a good excuse for four actors, who seem to get on quite well together, to get someone to fund an all expenses paid trip to Italy to make a movie underpinned by the thinnest of plots. That plot sees the group emerging from lockdown when they finally manage to meet for their routine bookclub. It's at this get-together that "Vivian" (Jane Fonda) announces that she - a lifelong opponent of the institution - is to marry "Arthur" (Don Johnson). "Carol" (Mary Steenbergen) comes up with the idea of a hen trip to Italy and after a bit of scepticism from "Diane" (Diane Keanton) and the timely death of the cat of judge "Sharon" (Candice Bergen) they embark on their trip of a lifetime. What now ensues is a rather predictable and lightweight comedy drama that starts off entertainingly enough but runs out of steam quickly and permanently. The last twenty minutes take us into cheesy territory that really did have me looking around the cinema at the ceiling thinking - "oh, just get on with it". There are a few fun contributions from Giancarlo Giannini as the rather dishevelled police chief and a few cameos from Andy Garcia, but for the most part this is just four folks having a jolly time whilst those of us sitting down remember (or discover) just how beautiful Venice is. It's all instantly forgettable stuff, this, but Bergen has her tongue firmly in her cheek and Jane Fonda just seems to look more android the more films she precariously totters through nowadays.

I had no expectations. They had me at Steenburgen, Fonda, Keaton and Bergen. And Italy.

I have never seen the first film. I figured it wasn't rocket science and didn't need to see the first to kind of get the gist.

To my shock and surprise, I found myself smiling nearly this entire film. Laughed out loud several times. Had to suppress some real guffaws.

Was it predictable? Yes, it was. But sometimes you just want to sit in the dark and eat popcorn and watch a movie for nothing more than sheer entertainment value. Was this film entertaining? Absolutely.

Lovely to see Andy Garcia and Don Johnson, no less. And Craig T. Nelson! And Hugh Quarshie, who played Sunda Kastagir opposite Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert in Highlander. That was a nice surprise.

I loved it. There were some real moments in the film about living your life to its fullest in the time that you have left. And when Diane Keaton says to Jane Fonda, (and I paraphrase) "you always were the Little Drummer Boy. You followed your heart". I got a little teary eyed. I thought about these women on the screen and thought about their film careers, the mountains they had to climb to get cast, to make a place in Hollywood and I thought, Brava, Ladies. Corny? Yes. Feel good? Yes. Go for the entertainment and popcorn and leave charmed.

Book Club: The Next Chapter is a film so lazy it almost feels as if it were written by AI instead of living, breathing human beings. It's got plenty of zingers and the cast tries their best to deliver them as best they can, but even the finest thespians in the world can't make this dialogue sound realistic. The story is non-existent as the four lead characters go from tourist spot to tourist spot, drinking wine, telling corny sex jokes, and offering up cliche proverbs about friendship that are so stale and tired that they're gag inducing. The first film was no fine masterpiece, but it at least had a little more substance to it. This is simply a waste of a fine cast, but I hope they enjoyed their trip to Italy.