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The Cemetery Club

Play trailer Poster for The Cemetery Club PG-13 Released Feb 3, 1993 1h 47m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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57% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 30% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Three widowed best friends (Ellen Burstyn, Olympia Dukakis, Diane Ladd) share the struggles and joys of their lives as single women in Pittsburgh.
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The Cemetery Club

Critics Reviews

View All (7) Critics Reviews
Globe and Mail Rated: 3/4 Jun 4, 2008 Full Review Steve Davis Austin Chronicle Rated: 2.5/5 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times The movie has a serious undertone, lightened from time to time by scenes that don't quite seem to fit, as if the revisions were designed to lighten the mood... Still, I liked it, partly because of the honesty of the love story. Rated: 3/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Malcolm Johnson Hartford Courant Maybe another director could have exhumed The Cemetery Club. Duke just lowers it carefully into its tomb. Jun 8, 2018 Full Review Chuck O'Leary Fantastica Daily Rated: 3/5 Oct 9, 2005 Full Review Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat Spirituality & Practice A bitterwseet comedy about the challenges faced by women over fifty face as they try to put the past behind them and move into uncharted territory. Jul 12, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (14) audience reviews
Steve D I found it unconvincing and slow. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/29/24 Full Review Audience Member Funerals are hard but can bring people together in many respects A well-rounded cast of Ellen Burstyn, Olympia Dukakis, Dianne Ladd, and the late Danny Aiello directed by Bill Duke and based on the play by Ivan Menchell 3 women in their middle ages become widows after each of their husbands pass away They gather together each year to honor their beloved spouses and form a cemetery club of sorts Yet they have trouble coming to terms with their years passing by wondering if they'll ever be happy again Esther unexpectedly finds love with a taxi driver who lost his wife, Doris misses her husband but is starting to suffer Alzheimer's, and Lucille remains single to the best of her extent For Esther it might be scary finding happiness at her age while also taking care of her granddaughter When you're young you get hurt you heal fast, the heart is like the bones just more fragile when you're older, friends shouldn't protect themselves from their own life or potential happiness, some of us aren't afraid of dying alone, we can't be afraid to take on newer chances Truth be told the movie focuses more on Esther's perspective and isn't so much about the trio of friends There's a lot of tonal shifts too that'll be off putting Still the honesty of the love story works mainly due to Aiello going through issues we can hardly guess about All these women work very well together and dare to explore uncharted territory with whatever time they have left putting the past behind them Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Cemetary Club manages to be entertaining enough, filled with witty dialogue and good performances, to warrant a watch even if it is a bit clunky here and there (and contains some cheesy moments as well) 3/5 stars Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/19/18 Full Review Audience Member Lucille Rubin: Sometimes life's a bummer Doris Silverman: A bummer? Lucille Rubin: It's just a word. Doris Silverman: You don't call losing a husband a bummer. Lucille Rubin: A bummer, Doris, is what you are right now. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member It is charming and endearing, but sadly thats about it. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member People who make films like this should be shot. Nothing this cringe-inducing should ever be inflicted upon even the most vile of humans- if it's not enough watching 3 pathetic old bitch widows whinging about their long dead husbands, just wait until one of them meets a new man and has forgotten the word for 'condom'. They enter into the most embarrassingly childish and pathetic relationship you will ever witness, whilst the other two widows whine and complain, and then there's a wedding (fucked if I remember whose), and widow number one bursts into tears and ruins the wedding just because she had sex the night before. If this is what women become in their late fifties, I swear I'll shoot my brains out well in time. Disgusting pile of crap that should be very ashamed of itself. Not even Christina Ricci's 8 or so minutes of screentime could salvage this one (although it did make me buy the damn film, so that says a lot for her). JUST NO! Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Cemetery Club

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Three widowed best friends (Ellen Burstyn, Olympia Dukakis, Diane Ladd) share the struggles and joys of their lives as single women in Pittsburgh.
Director
Bill Duke
Producer
David Brown, Sophie Hurst, Bonnie Palef
Production Co
Touchstone Pictures
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 3, 1993, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA)
$5.6M
Runtime
1h 47m
Sound Mix
Surround, Stereo
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