Holderman's 'Book Club' began with an inappropriate gift

Director Bill Holderman's "Book Club" started with an inappropriate Mothers Day gift, says the film's co-writer Erin Simms.

In the film, Diane Keaton (Diane), Jane Fonda (Vivian), Candice Bergen (Sharon) and Mary Steenburgen (Carol) play successful older women getting back into the dating world thanks to the erotic thriller trilogy "Fifty Shades of Grey".

"Bill decides to send his mother the trilogy for Mother's Day, which I thought was completely insane. How could he have that kind of relationship with his mother where...where sex is even a topic? That's just wrong on every level," Simms said in a statement to IANS.

"Then he tells me his mom is totally open, that she is 'active in that area'. I thought that is hysterical, so I sent my mother the trilogy for Mother's Day which is, you know, sending it to the opposite kind of woman. She thought it was hilarious.

"And then, I decided well why not just top this off and I sent it to my stepmother, who has been in a very long-term marriage, has way too much dopamine in her brain, happy all the time, life is grand. I mean, three very different women."

The film is Holderman's directorial debut, who has also written the screenplay along with Simms.

Recalling the inception of the idea, Simms said: "Bill is going to say, 'Erin always claims she came up with the movie'. Well I did. I came back the next morning and said, 'What about a book club with, you know, women of a certain age and they're reading 'Fifty Shades of Grey'? It was instant...that is what we are doing! So it is all Bill's mother's fault. He can take credit for that."

The film is being brought to India by PVR Pictures and will open on May 25.

--IANS

sug/rb/bg