Let Them All Talk

Starring: Meryl Streep, Gemma Chan, Lucas Hedges, Dianne Wiest, Candice Bergen, Daniel Algrant, John Douglas Thompson
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
2020

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A famous author (Meryl Streep) afraid of flying agrees to take a cruise across the Atlantic to claim a prestigious award, as long as she can bring her nephew (Lucas Hedges) and estranged college friends (Dianne Wiest, Candice Bergen) with her.

Review:

Tim: It's quite clear to me that Steven Soderbegh is an overrated director. Every time I see his name, my first thought is, "Oh, this might be good!" Unfortunately, outside of the Ocean movies, his track record is far more misses than hits. He's directed bad movies before, but he most often comes in at okay or decent films- nothing especially wrong with them, but underwhelming. You can add Let Them All Talk to that group. The movie is fine- it features some great performances, but the story itself is pretty bland. It's the kind of movie you scratch your head and wonder what Soderbergh hoped to achieve here.

Now, I admit, the premise does sound interesting. You have a famous author on a transatlantic cruise. Her new agent joins the cruise without the author being aware because the publisher is very nervous about her forthcoming manuscript, which doesn't seem to be coming along. The author brings her nephew and two of her college friends, whom she hasn't had much contact with in decades. There's a lot of layers of human drama involved in this. The different relationship dynamics that emerge among this group is truly interesting- I was definitely a fan of that. This is a big reason why the film is at least decent- such emotional depths and drama come out in this self-contained space.

The biggest problem I had with the film is that it's oftentimes dull. Outside of strong individual moments or scenes, the whole thing kind of drifts forward. I was never totally disengaged, but it took a lot of work to stay focused. I wasn't sure why Soderbergh directed such a boring movie, until I read that much of the dialogue was improvised by the cast. This does two things- on the one hand, you kind of marvel that the actors were able to improvise dialogue like this that made sense and revealed things about their characters. They weren't just reciting lines, but creating them. That's great for the cast. On the other side, though, people talking is oftentimes boring. We deal with that every day of our lives. Do we need the movies to show us more of that? Sure, there's some benefit to this film feeling like real life, but movies should be more of an escape. I want beautifully written dialogue, not actors spouting off whatever comes into their head. That's a big reason why this movie isn't better- it feels too close to real life and real life can be dull. I wish Soderbergh had taken a different tact- he might have given his actors less freedom, but it would have resulted in a more entertaining movie.

The chief reason I derived enjoyment from this film was because of the cast. Meryl Streep is especially strong in the lead role, but we've come to expect that. I've never been as big of a Streep fan as her resume would suggest I should be. I wouldn't say she gives an awards-worthy performance here, but make no mistake, her acting is top notch. She brings this character to life, adding in little insecurities and quirks that make her feel like a fully realized human being. Streep definitely elevates the film with her effective performance. I'm a huge fan of Lucas Hedges- I truly believe the guy could become one of the all-time great actors. He seems to have wisdom and maturity beyond his years. When you consider that he spends most of the movie interacting with Streep, Dianne Wiest, and Candice Bergen- AND he more than manages to hold his own against them, you know you're witnessing someone special. Hedges just seems so effortless in his character, builds an emotional connection with the audience, and makes you feel something for him. I was so impressed with his performance here.

I really like Gemma Chan, too. Her performance might have been a bit uneven, but her strong moments were very, very strong. Chan does a great job of showing vulnerability in her performance. You become curious about her character and want to learn more. It felt like her character's arc didn't quite end as effectively as it could, but Chan was a delight to watch on screen. I think she'll continue to build an impressive Hollywood career. Dianne Wiest and Candice Bergen are both such experienced, stalwart actresses. You know they are going to turn in solid, effective performances, and that's exactly what they do. I was really excited by the prospect of seeing Streep, Wiest, and Bergen together. They get a few nice sequences, but not as many as I would have liked. I wish the movie gave those three actresses more of a chance to interact together. I also enjoyed Daniel Algrant's supporting performance, which emerged as more interesting and memorable than expected. As I said, the entire cast is the biggest reason to see this film.

Let Them All Talk is a decent film. Soderbergh has proven he can do better, but he's done much worse, too. I think he gave the cast a bit too much leeway to improvise, but he did get exceptionally strong performances from the cast. This movie is worth seeing for that reason, but go into it knowing that there's a lot of downtime and you'll likely be somewhat frustrated that Soderbergh didn't get all the mileage out of the story that he could have.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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