Meryl Streep can do no wrong! Streep is labeled as “the actor of our generation” and she has demonstrated why she has earned that title on Let Them All Talk. Mind you she is working with some tremendous actors including Candice Bergen, Dianne Wiest and Lucas Hedges to her benefit.
Let Them All Talk is a film that is based around Alice (Meryl Streep) famed author who is trying to complete a manuscript that will be as successful as her previous works. There has been a number of successful books, but nothing as highly regarded as her first breakout work.
Alice completed her first manuscript shortly after completing college and the premise of the story is loosely based around the life of college roommates and friends Susan (Dianne Wiest) and Roberta (Candice Bergen).
Inviting her friends on a cruise on the Queen Mary II, Alice hopes to rekindle her long lost friendships, find some level of happiness and complete her upcoming manuscript with the help of nephew Tyler (Lucas Hedges) and Literary Agent Karen (Gemma Chan).
Directed by Steven Soderbergh, this is atypical of a Soderbergh film. Many long pauses where you can see the actors thinking, sometimes stumbling, but all the while coming across as incredibly real and genuine.
Written by Deborah Eisenberg, this is a unique story about a woman struggling to find inspiration in her work but also wishing to resolve any animosity held by long standing college friends who have grown apart over the years but have a lot of history.
Lucas Hedges as Tyler is a fumbling character who is devoted to his aunt and determined to help her at all costs, but also wishing to break away from her demanding routine and experience life. A fascinating character to watch develop on the screen.
How can you not love Dianne Wiest? She is always good no matter what she does. Wiest as Susan is also intriguing as she is the person who calls a spade and spade and quite confrontational telling people what they don’t want to hear, which is an interesting inclusion into the story of Let Them All Talk.
Candice Bergen is an underrated actor that doesn’t get as much credit as she deserves. Her portrayal of Roberta, a shoe sales person from a department store who lives in the shadow of her famous friend Alice. Roberta is resentful and is holding a grudge and seeing Bergen place such a multi-facet character is amusing and entertaining.
Let Them All Talk is a thinking movie. What I mean by this is that it isn’t your average story that slowly presents itself to you without too much effort.
Let Them All Talk examines the relationship these three strong women have with each other and the resentment they have and hold and how it affects the friendship. Some of the protagonists are refusing to move on from issues with the past and others being equally protective of their future, while some are simply there to enjoy the extravagance of a free trip on the Queen Mary II.
Let Them All Talk is currently available on HBO Max
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6DHWEii8eo