The Stepford Wives Review
by David N. Butterworth (dnb AT dca DOT net)June 29th, 2004
THE STEPFORD WIVES (2004)
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2004 David N. Butterworth
*1/2 (out of ****)
Ira Levin writes thrillers. "Rosemary’s Baby." "The Boys from Brazil."
"Deathtrap." "Sliver." Unless I seriously misremember, his "'Stepford Wives" was also a crafty thriller, about a small Connecticut town with a big
secret. Its suburban housewives, all prim, proper, and particularly eager to do their husband’s bidding, were just a little *too* perfect.
The 1975 Bryan Forbes film of the same name was also a satisfying science fiction/thriller/mystery, as were its numerous made-for-television
sequels, but for the summer of 2004 wise old Hollywood has decided to turn this classic into a killer *comedy*. Why else would they have cast Bette Midler, Jon Lovitz, and (to a lesser extent) Glenn Close and Christopher Walken in supporting roles? Why else would they have put Muppet maestro Frank Oz (director of such fair-to-middling comedies as "Bowfinger," "HouseSitter," and "What About Bob?") in charge?
The Stepford Wives (2004) is not only a pretty poor comedy it’s also a
pretty poor movie. About the only thing it has going for it is Nicole Kidman.
Kidman plays Joanna Eberhard, a hugely successful producer of reality TV shows (note the update) who’s at the top of her game when a disgruntled contestant takes a pot shot at her. The network can’t afford the
lawsuit, so they let her go. Kidman is remarkable in this scene, going from confident to perplexed to outraged to composed in a single close-up.
Joanna’s husband, Walter Kresby, is played by a stiff Matthew Broderick, who looks like he’s wearing shirts with the hangers left in them. In a bold supportive move of solidarity he quits *his* job and relocates the family from upscale Manhattan to the charming Connecticut suburbs where, with zero jobs between them, Joanna and Walter purchase the absolute biggest house they can lay their hands on! Right. It’s hard to buy the puppyish Broderick as gorgeous Nicole’s husband... until you remember he’s married to Sarah Jessica Parker.
Bette Midler plays novelist and Stepford newcomer Bobbie Markowitz, a
braying, wisecracking donkey to Broderick’s green ogre. Jon Lovitz plays her oafish husband Dave. And then there’s Glenn Close and Christopher Walken as the Wellingtons, self-appointed rulers of this picture-perfect community in which the men hang out at the men’s club almost exclusively while their picture-perfect wives fetch and carry for them.
That’s another problem with the film (and the decision to remake it). Its
themes are horribly outdated. Not so much the individuality vs. conformity
debate, with its feminist/chauvinist subtext, but its whole assumption of gender roles.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOLLOW: Although most people will know what the term “stepford wife” refers to it would seem that the film’s producers
are not among those numbers, since they appear totally confused as to whether the wives are robots, or brainwashed. If the original women are dead then what’s with that scene when Broderick punches lots of buttons and the wives come “back to life”? If they’re simply pre-programmed then how do you explain the scene in which Joanna stumbles across her eyeless “double”?
This confusion on the part of the filmmakers, coupled with weak jokes
and embarrassing stereotypes, earn the film one star, but I’ll throw in an
extra half star for Kidman’s engaging performance. Otherwise the latest "‘Stepford Wives" remains what it was from the very beginning: an incredibly bad idea.
--
David N. Butterworth
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