For some, a friendship is a lifelong blessing, for others, it is a welcome distraction from everyday life. For the select few, it is a frustration that we simply cannot bring ourselves to end, since there is something special about having companions that stand with you through every challenge and triumph in your life. For the protagonists in The Cemetery Club, an excellent play written by Ivan Menchell, they find themselves somewhere at the intersection between these three definitions, particularly in the years following their respective husbands’ deaths, where they find themselves more challenged than ever before. The story has been adapted into a film that bears the same title, brought to the screen by journeyman director Bill Duke, who saw enough merit in the original play to put in a concerted effort to bring this charming narrative to a much wider audience, which was also written by Menchell, who was chosen to write the screenplay himself, in an effort to ensure that the film captured the spirit of the original text. Following roughly a year in the lives of three older women who are part of a close-knit Jewish-American social circle in suburban Pittsburgh, the film explores their friendship as they become the titular “cemetery club”, so named after their weekly ritual of visiting the graveyard where their husbands are buried, and which serves as the location of many of their most important moments of bonding, as well as the occasional argument, which is often stirred up by one of the three women and their exceptionally large egos. A wonderful and quaint comedy with a dramatic streak that makes it clear that the film means business when it comes to interrogating perhaps life’s biggest inevitability, The Cemetery Club is a charming film, an examination of the narrow boundary between life and death, as seen through the eyes of three distinctly different women as they navigate the challenges surrounding the changes to their well-maintained lives that are unfortunately simply part of life and its unexpected surprises.

Both narratively and thematically, we find that The Cemetery Club delivers exactly what it advertises. Based on a cursory glance, we would expect an upbeat comedy about very serious issues, centering on the trials and tribulations of a trio of eccentric women navigating challenges that they knew were inevitable, but yet were not prepared to confront quite so soon – this is unfortunately the nature of life, where it is never a good time to face certain challenges. The themes that the film is intent on exploring are made abundantly clear right from the start – this is a film that combines conversations around aging, femininity, religion and friendship, jumbling them all together and presenting them through a series of interwoven vignettes that ultimately form the foundation of these women’s lives. It is not a particularly complex film in this regard – it provides exactly what we expected, and the overall intentions behind the film, while never anything less than admirable, are worth every moment of our time, which is quietly and methodically developed into the overall storyline. There are many very similar films with almost identical premises, and at a quick glance The Cemetery Club can seem to be just another entry into this sub-genre of the lighthearted comedy-drama that was kickstarted with films like The Big Chill and Steel Magnolias, which proved to be quite a popular style of storytelling, since it ultimately garnered a large reward for a lot less effort, since these stories are essentially built on the foundation of scattering a few resonant themes and binding them together with a series of heartfelt and funny moments, a formula that has served many films quite well and arguably been the root of success for many of these slight but otherwise still very charming films.

Over the years, it has become a trend to assemble a trio or quartet of legendary actors, placing them near one another, and allowing the cameras to roll as they recite dialogue and tell a particular story, neither of which has to be of a high-calibre, considering audiences will be more invested in seeing these heavyweights acting across from one another to notice the quality of the writing. The Cemetery Club certainly has its work cut out for it in the form of the three actors chosen to lead the film – Olympia Dukakis, right amid a career peak following the major success of Moonstruck and the work she did in the television adaptation of Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City, as well as a reunion between Ellen Burstyn and Diane Ladd, who had previously worked together nearly twenty years prior in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a major moment in the careers of both actors. With a trio of this calibre at the helm, Duke essentially had half the work done by the time they were cast – the actors perform exceptionally well, despite the roles not being all that complex or daring. All that parts required was a solid outlook from performers who could capture the essence of the characters without going too far – and the three leads are all wonderful. Choosing a standout is impossible, since the film balances its attention between all three of them equally, giving each one of them something to do – and whether we latch onto Dukakis’ more stern but principled Doris, Ladd’s chipper and sultry Lucille, or Burstyn’s deeply empathetic Esther, we can identify many fascinating traits in each one of them. The film is also worth it for arguably one of Danny Aiello’s most charming and lovable performances, as well as a hilarious supporting role by the ever-reliable Lainie Kazan, who steals every scene she is in. The ensemble of The Cemetery Club is truly terrific, and anchors the entire film.

Going into The Cemetery Club, it is clear that we are going to get exactly what we expected, right down to the individual narrative beats and the emotions that come pre-packaged with these stories. No one involved in this film ever intended to make something bespoke, and while there are some genuinely surprising moments, the film is (for the most part) a relatively conventional affair. The tone is exactly what we would anticipate – its very funny, with a lot of the humour being drawn from the obvious places, such as jokes relating to the ages of the characters, as well as their different stances on femininity (the fact that we have three distinct character archetypes – the eccentric bimbo, the stern patrician and the soft-spoken introvert – makes it quite clear that they were targeting this film at devotees of the recently-concluded The Golden Girls, which feels like a forerunner to this story in many ways), and some culture-based humour, particularly the relationship between the Jewish community represented in the film, and those who exist outside of it. The jokes are obvious but still very funny, and a large portion of the film, while not anything of immense consequence, still makes sure to add nuance to the humour in order to maintain some sense of elegance. However, it’s the slightly sadder aspects of the film that are most notable, and not always for the right reasons – The Cemetery Club can often be immensely overwrought, and its origins on stage are very clear. The heavy-handed emotions sometimes threaten to derail the film, especially since there are very rarely instances where such intensely melodramatic moments are necessary. This includes some of the climactic moments, which dampen the more optimistic spirit of the preceding hour, as well as quite a dour ending, which feels like almost a betrayal of the positive outlook the film seemed to be promoting at the start. The Cemetery Club is a clear example of the sometimes unstable process of translating a story from stage to the screen, and while it doesn’t necessarily ruin the film, it does prevent it from reaching the point of catharsis that it consistently seems to be promising the audience.

A film like The Cemetery Club is the very definition of reliable, predictable filmmaking – there are very few moments in this film where we are genuinely taken by surprise, and the majority of the film is formed along well-defined boundaries that are familiar to all of us, which is always welcome, even if it can feel somewhat predictable far too often. This is warm, comforting cinema that is focused on giving the audience a pleasant experience, which is its primary responsibility and something that it does quite well, at least in comparison to other stories that attempt to be original but barely manage to make much of an imprint. Filled with lovely moments shared between a fantastic cast, who use their collective efforts to create these wonderfully endearing characters, and driven by a genuine sense of apathy and love for its characters, The Cemetery Club is a charming comedy about very serious issues. We can overlook the overwrought climax simply through noting the broader intentions of the story, which were clearly to offer something resonant and heartfelt, and which simply fell victim to the expected cliches that accompany such stories. It’s a lovely film with a lot of heart and soul, and the wonderful cast pushes it forward and makes it such an endearing effort. It may not be complex cinema, but it most certainly feels very special in all the appropriate ways, and for that reason alone, we find ourselves feeling the sincere affection required to suspend disbelief and just spend a couple of hours with these eccentric characters as they confront life’s greatest inevitabilities with wit, charm and candour, a perfect description of this film as a whole.