As the expression goes, behind every great man there is a great woman. THE WIFE takes that phrase as its jumping off point. The movie begins with novelist Joe Castleman (Jonathan Pryce) getting the momentous early morning call from Stockholm that he has won the Nobel Prize for literature. With him is his wife, Joan (Glenn Close). The couple is jetted to Sweden for the official ceremony. Along for the trip is their son David (Max Irons), a budding writer himself. On the flight, they are accosted by a journalist Nathaniel (Christian Slater), who is intent on writing Castleman's biography - authorized or not.
Once the action shift to Scandinavia, the simmering tensions in the Castleman's marriage emerge even as we follow the Novelist going through preparations for the crowning ceremony where he will be feted by the King of Sweden (Nick Fletcher), along with the other Nobel winners. Interspersed with the present day story are flashbacks to the Castelman's courting and marriage, which, if more than a bit clunky, are intended to show how their relationship has devolved (when you have actors as fine as Close and Pryce, those visual representations aren't truly necessary). The whole setup, while intrinsically interesting on paper, come off as more than bit hackneyed.
What isn't tired, is Close's performance. It's a marvel of intensity, primarily conveyed with her eyes, her slight body movements and mostly sparse dialogue. One senses the decades of pent up emotions, even if they don't boil until a couple of more intense flare-ups late in the proceedings. But, it's the quieter moments that make Close's portrayal - not, the more shows 'Awards scenes'. Pryce is very much Close's equal even if he doesn't quite have the opportunity to show as wide a range of emotions. Annie Starkle (Close's actual daughter) plays the younger Joan in the flashbacks and acquits herself well. The two younger males don't come off as well. Irons has a hapless role as the pouty son, and Harry Lloyd is simple miscast as the younger Joe (he comes off as too callow to believe he grows into Pryce). Elizabeth McGovern has a memorable bit as a bitter female writer.
THE WIFE is very much an actor's piece. For a movie based on a novel, and about a writer, the screenplay simply isn't up to the cast. It comes off as more a theatrical play, than a full-fledged feature film - alluring images of Sweden and all. Director Bjorn Runge does an admirable job with the cast, but does little to dispel the notion of a semi-inert stage production. Production defects and all, THE WIFE is still memorable for Close's indelible title character.
Once the action shift to Scandinavia, the simmering tensions in the Castleman's marriage emerge even as we follow the Novelist going through preparations for the crowning ceremony where he will be feted by the King of Sweden (Nick Fletcher), along with the other Nobel winners. Interspersed with the present day story are flashbacks to the Castelman's courting and marriage, which, if more than a bit clunky, are intended to show how their relationship has devolved (when you have actors as fine as Close and Pryce, those visual representations aren't truly necessary). The whole setup, while intrinsically interesting on paper, come off as more than bit hackneyed.
What isn't tired, is Close's performance. It's a marvel of intensity, primarily conveyed with her eyes, her slight body movements and mostly sparse dialogue. One senses the decades of pent up emotions, even if they don't boil until a couple of more intense flare-ups late in the proceedings. But, it's the quieter moments that make Close's portrayal - not, the more shows 'Awards scenes'. Pryce is very much Close's equal even if he doesn't quite have the opportunity to show as wide a range of emotions. Annie Starkle (Close's actual daughter) plays the younger Joan in the flashbacks and acquits herself well. The two younger males don't come off as well. Irons has a hapless role as the pouty son, and Harry Lloyd is simple miscast as the younger Joe (he comes off as too callow to believe he grows into Pryce). Elizabeth McGovern has a memorable bit as a bitter female writer.
THE WIFE is very much an actor's piece. For a movie based on a novel, and about a writer, the screenplay simply isn't up to the cast. It comes off as more a theatrical play, than a full-fledged feature film - alluring images of Sweden and all. Director Bjorn Runge does an admirable job with the cast, but does little to dispel the notion of a semi-inert stage production. Production defects and all, THE WIFE is still memorable for Close's indelible title character.