The Wife is fine. This is a story about a woman who is married to a very, very famous writer – perhaps the best writer of his generation. From the beginning of the film, however, something seems not quite right. The writer includes his wife in conversations when he can, and is always sure to thank her when he wins awards, but his wife seems unsettled, uncomfortable with recognition. Something is just
off about all of it. He's not really a bad guy, either – he's played by Jonathan Price – he just doesn't seem quite
aware of the fact that his wife is uncomfortable with his fame and accolades.
The plot of
The Wife, such as it is, is very, very simple, and the movie has few surprises in store for its viewers. The trouble with this, is that
The Wife is designed to be a movie that
does surprise its viewers. There are at least two big reveals in the film (and maybe a third), but neither of them actually
lands as a surprise. They both feel completely inevitable in
The Wife's melodramatic universe.
Jane Anderson's script and Björn Runge's direction are what are at fault here. But what else is there in a film
aside from acting and directing, you might ask?
There is Glenn Close, of course, who is going to try to score a well-deserved 6th Oscar nomination for this part (and an eventual win?).
The trouble is that the entire premise of
The Wife feels contrived and, well, to put it bluntly, I found the whole thing completely preposterous. I just didn't
buy it. Close is very, very good. But the movie simply didn't work for me. What does that mean for Close's chances? I tend to think it sinks them, but who knows. A nomination seems inevitable, but I don't this mediocre movie can pull of a win for her.
No comments:
Post a Comment