Producers: Basil Iwanyk, Eric Lee, Brendan Boyea, Gerard Butler, Alan Siegel, Scott Lastaiti, Christian Mercuri and Ali Jaafar   Director: Ric Roman Waugh   Screenplay: Mitchell LaFortune   Cast: Gerard Butler, Navid Negahban, Ali Fazal, Bahador Foladi, Travis Fimmel, Nina Toussaint-White, Vassilis Koukalani, Mark Arnold, Corey Johnson, Ravi Aujla, Ray Haratian and Tom Rhys Harries   Distributor: Open Road Films

Grade: C-

The action movies that Gerard Butler and director Ric Roman Waugh have previously collaborated on—“Angel Has Fallen” and “Greenland”—were bombastic, effects-heavy productions.  With “Kandahar” they go a more basic route, offering a rather simple-minded chase movie through the deserts of Iran and Afghanistan (Saudi Arabia standing in for both), with some gun battles and explosions but nothing more visually exotic than that along the way.  It amounts to a convoluted but tedious tale of espionage and escape that almost seems like a throwaway despite an effort to add some sympathetic notes about the damage the American involvement in Afghanistan did to many of the locals.

The rather incredible premise with which the movie begins is that the Iranian government has hired a western firm to upgrade an underground internet connection near the city of Qom.  That’s allowed the CIA to insert Tom Harris (Butler), on loan from MI6 as part of the two-man tech team (the other member, Oliver, is played by Tom Rhys Harries).  Harris places a device into the wiring that somehow causes the implosion of a huge underground Iranian nuclear research facility nearby as agency bigwigs Mark Lowe and Chris Hoyt (Mark Arnold and Corey Johnson) watch nervously but gleefully via satellite surveillance.  (Scripter Mitchell LaFortune has a cameo as a tech guy in the “war room” sequence.  His face is obscured in shadow, which, given the quality of the finished product, could be fortuitous.)

The plan is for Harris (and presumably Oliver, though he’s removed from the equation early on) to escape after the blast to Herat, in Afghanistan, to be met there by Mohammad Doud (Navid Negahban), an interpreter who worked with the Americans during the war but escaped to the U.S. He’s been brought back into the country to serve as translator on a four-hundred mile journey to Kandahar.  There Roman Chalmers (Travis Fimmel), not only Tom’s contact man with the CIA but a friend and colleague, has arranged for them to be extracted and flown to safety.  It seems an unnecessarily complicated business to begin with, but it’s blown almost immediately when investigative reporter Luna Cujai (Nina Toussaint-White), who knows of the operation, is kidnapped by Iranian agents, interrogated by Bashar Hamadani (Vassilis Koukalani) and, under threat of execution, spills the beans.  Hamadani immediately dispatches agent Fazard Asardi (Bahador Foladi), and though Oliver is killed, Harris evades the Iranians, meets up with Doud, and the chase is on. 

But that’s only one part of the pursuit.  The matter is also of interest to the infamous Pakistani intelligence service the ISI, which sends dashing operative Nahil Nazir (Ali Fazal), their worldly contact man with the Taliban, after Harris.  He prefers a motorcycle, while Fazard uses a helicopter, so Harris is in peril from both land and air.

And that hasn’t yet taken into account the Taliban, who are of course themselves thick on the ground, and warlords like Ismail Rabbani (Ray Haratian), into whose hands Harris and Doud fall during one leg of their journey. Rabbani and Harris have a frenemy-type past, and so the sojourn is at best tricky, but it’s made more so by the fact that Doud blames the warlord for the death of his son, which allows for a sequence in which the interpreter must decide between revenge and forgiveness.  (A further attempt to give Doud backstory comes in his revelation that the major reason he agreed to the assignment was his hope of finding and rescuing his sister-in-law, who was left behind during the American withdrawal.)

You have to give “Kandahar” some credit for trying to make Mohammad an emotionally complex figure, torn between anger over his losses and a desire to turn the page—a complexity Negahban conveys well–and for suggesting the less-than-monolithic attitudes at work in the region (Fazard is less interested in the geopolitical issues than getting home to his family, and Nahil remonstrates with rigid Taliban leaders about their brutal practices at a time when the world is watching).  Unhappily the same nuance isn’t bestowed on Harris, who shows some concern for putting Doud in danger and regret over Oliver’s death but is mostly just the bluff, gruff figure we’ve come to expect from Butler (when asked by his wife how he can keep putting himself at such risk when their daughter needs him, Harris curtly replies that she knows he could never stand a desk job).  Nor do any of the other characters come off as much more than rote.

Most damagingly, despite the efforts of Waugh and the technical crew—production designer Vincent Reynaud, cinematographer MacGregor and editor Colby Parker Jr.—“Kandahar” never builds up the excitement it’s straining for, even with a driving score by David Buckley.  The action is too episodic, and the jumps from place to place and pursuer to pursuer dilute the impact.  When the big finale occurs—it will come as no surprise that it includes a last-minute intervention from outside (and an act of predictable self-sacrifice)—it comes across as ludicrous rather than satisfying.

It also doesn’t help that the film comes close on the heels of a better film with a similar plot. “The Covenant.”  Guy Ritchie’s film also dealt with a bond between an American and an Afghan translator, and while it has some flaws, it brought greater depth to the premise than Waugh manages.  The comparison might not be fair, but in this case it’s inevitable. “Kandahar” gets some points for ambition.  But they’re not enough to keep it from being just another mediocre Gerard Butler action movie. 

Producers: Bill Holderman and Erin Simms   Director: Bill Holderman   Screenplay: Bill Holderman and Erin Simms   Cast: Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen, Andy Garcia, Don Johnson, Craig T. Nelson, Giancarlo Giannini, Hugh Quarshie, Vincent Riotta, Giampiero Judica, Giovanni Esposito, Francesco Serpico and Adriano De Pasquale   Distributor: Focus Features

Grade: C-

The locales are lovely, and the four stars aren’t bad either, but the script is decidedly undernourished in Bill Holderman’s sequel to his surprise 2018 hit.  Co-written once more with Erin Simms, “Book Club: The Next Chapter” is a soggy continuation of its predecessor that might work as a travelogue but as a comedy operates at a sub-“Golden Girls” level.

The movie takes up where the last one left off.  Diane (Diane Keaton) is living happily with ultra-considerate Mitchell (Andy Garcia), though they remain unwed, while the married life Carol (Mary Steenburgen) has with Bruce (Craig T. Nelson) is marred by his recent heart attack and her helicopter attitude about his health.  Vivian’s (Jane Fonda) relationship with her old beau Arthur (Don Johnson) has proceeded to a proposal, which she accepts though with some misgivings, while long-divorced retired judge Sharon (Candice Bergen) remains steadfastly single and sharp-tongued.

Coming out of the pandemic, when the four women had been able to meet only via unsatisfactory Zoom sessions, they now determine to learn from their latest read, “The Alchemist,” and go on a trip they’ve always dreamt of, to Italy.  There are obstacles—like Sharon’s reluctance to leave her cat behind—but all are swept aside, thanks primarily to the other women’s incredibly supportive partners.

What follows is a tour that eventually encompasses Rome, Venice and Tuscany—the final destination where the men and her three pals have prepared a wonderful surprise for Viv.  There are plenty of bad jokes along the way—leering remarks about statues, for example, or an incident in which the women naively allow their luggage to be stolen, or mistaking a handsome cop (Adriano De Pasquale) for a wedding stripper. The most extended running gag, though, has to do with a police inspector (Giancarlo Giannini), whom the women repeatedly bump into, starting with their report on the stolen luggage; Sharon, in particular, butts heads with him. But he’s also instrumental to overcoming the obstacle that, predictably, threatens to prevent the women from getting to Tuscany in time for Viv’s big surprise.       

Most of the episodes, though, are intended to extracts oohs and aahs—an extended visit to a ritzy dress shop run by a designer named Donato (Giampiero Judica), for example, or the final act of the film, filled with long, sappy monologues about love and friendship delivered by the women, and a wedding service replete with sweetness, sentiment and surprises presided over by an oh-so-hilarious fellow named Pasquale (Giovanni Esposito, a flibbertigibbet who might be a distant relative of Roberto Benigni).

Then there are quasi-romantic interludes.  Viv is already called for, of course, though even after Arthur’s proposal her attitude toward marriage remains ambivalent; luckily, he proves an incredibly understanding guy about it.  Diane has an equally considerate partner in Mitchell, who goes through hoops to woo her.  But Sharon’s story is entirely different.  She may strike a strident pose as far as most men are concerned—her sparring with Giannini’s police chief is evidence of that—but she’s ready for anything when she shares drinks with Ousmane (Hugh Quarshie), a funny, sophisticated professor, in Venice.  And even Carol is not immune.  Her commitment to Bruce is tested when, in Venice, she reconnects with Chef Gianni (Vincent Riotta), a colleague from her student days whose kitchen she’s induced to visit for a reunion. (Her own restaurant back home shut down during the pandemic.)  Will she remain faithful to Bruce, despite her longing for an intimacy she hasn’t felt recently?  And will Bruce be understanding, like all the other men in these women’s lives?  What do you think?

It’s possible that those who turned the first “Book Club” into a hit will respond to this second helping of sentiment, sassiness, limp jokes and female camaraderie, though the recipe hasn’t improved with repetition.  There is pleasure to be had, however, in the locations, rendered colorfully if overly brightly in Stefano Maria Ortolani’s production design and Andrew Dunn’s cinematography.  But though the four stars do their best, only Bergen brings real zest to the party; under Holderman’s lackadaisical direction, the others pretty much just recite the uninspired dialogue without conviction, and their performances aren’t helped by the plodding pace chosen by the director and editor Doc Crotzer.  The men fare a mite better, since smooth competence is all that’s required of them, and Giannini actually shows a spark of comic flair with his deadpan delivery—a complete contrast to Esposito’s frenzied antics.  Tom Howe’s score, as you might expect, is replete with nods to Italian favorites.      

It might be noted that once again, the lead foursome imbibe plenty of wine throughout this “Club” meeting, even more than in the previous movie.  It would probably help viewers to hoist a few glasses before—or while—watching it, too.  Certainly the picture will constitute a basis for a fine drinking game when it winds up on Blu-ray and streaming services: just follow the rule of a taking a sip whenever they do, and try to stay sober.