Film Review: "Let Them All Talk" (2020).

"Write your wrongs" in Let Them All Talk. This comedy-drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Deborah Eisenberg. The film tells the story of a celebrated author who takes a journey with some old friends to have some fun and heal old wounds. Her nephew comes along to wrangle the ladies and her literary agent also books herself on the trip.

In August 2019, it was announced Meryl Streep and Gemma Chan would star in a comedy-drama film with Soderbergh as director and penned by Eisenberg. Later that month, it was announced HBO Max had acquired the distribution rights to the film. Additionally, Candice Bergen, Dianne Wiest and Lucas Hedges rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced and took place in New York City, New York and on the Cunard ocean liner RMS Queen Mary 2 as it crossed the Atlantic, lasting two weeks. For the most part paying Queen Mary 2 passengers were unaware of the film being shot. Signs were placed around live shooting locations. They were met with mostly indifference. Soderbergh only used the story outline written by Eisenberg, and allowed the actors to improvise much of their dialogue. Contrary to reports that all the dialogue was improvised, Soderbergh explained that there were many key scenes throughout the film which were completely scripted, while other scenes were written as prose by Eisenberg, grew from improv with the actors, and were then further revised by her. Soderbergh called it "highly structured improvisation" and estimated the ratio as seventy percent improvised vs. thirty percent scripted dialogue.

The film stars Streep, Bergen, Wiest, Chan and Hedges. Veterans and relative newcomers populate the talented cast, led by Streep in one of her best-rendered performances to date. Streep gives one of the best performances of her career in this screwball comedy about a writer who's pushed into maturity by forces beyond her control; a well-acted coming-of-age saga for adults. As Alice Hughes, Streep, looking hugely disheveled, does one of her best works; playing a real character after so many pictures in which she's glided by on an air of silken cynicism, she proves that he's still a true actor. This performance shows Streep aging gracefully and willingly, an accomplishment that only a couple of famous leading men have achieved in recent years.

Smart, charming, and funny, it's about finding the right inspiration and making the right choices. Soderbergh and Eisenberg, it's abundantly clear, made a lot of right choices. The film digresses so entertainingly, you forget how quickly Alice got into the mess she's in, and can't imagine where we might be headed. I've never quite seen a movie like this one. It is sometimes self-deprecating, often nostalgic and optimistic, but always slightly mysterious. It's very refreshing to see a movie that celebrates writing and intelligence without stooping to become a filmed record of a novel. Yes, the film is often hilarious and surprisingly exciting, but it's really an expertly crafted, intelligent character piece, a mature film about inspiration and choices.

Simon says Let Them All Talk receives:

Also, see my review for The Laundromat.