Joe (Alan Pryce) and Joan (Glenn Close) Castleman unbeknownst to the world are quite a writing team. In fact Joe's just won the Nobel Prize, except she is the more deserving of the two who will have to settle for loyal wife praise. It seems they've been pulling the wool over the public's eye since his married, tom catting, teaching days when he first hooked up with Joan who agreed to the corrupt bargain.
The Wife is a Bergman Wild Strawberries derivation without the Swedish stoicism. Joan snaps and you wonder why she had not sooner given the near totally unredeemable character of Joe the gate decades earlier. Leeching off his wife's talent over the years he also took the opportunity to have affairs but now sees himself as the victim.
Close is outstanding, certainly one her finest performances over a excellent dramatic film career. Pryce is also impressive as the unctuous hubby, criticizing his wife, berating his son, coming on to a photographer and being outright insensitive much of the time. But the heavy handed ogre treatment all works against the film's credulity of Joan's lifetime of restraint and sacrifice that erupts in resentment and fury most people would agree was years late. The imbalance does not stand up and this wife only has herself to blame.
The Wife is a Bergman Wild Strawberries derivation without the Swedish stoicism. Joan snaps and you wonder why she had not sooner given the near totally unredeemable character of Joe the gate decades earlier. Leeching off his wife's talent over the years he also took the opportunity to have affairs but now sees himself as the victim.
Close is outstanding, certainly one her finest performances over a excellent dramatic film career. Pryce is also impressive as the unctuous hubby, criticizing his wife, berating his son, coming on to a photographer and being outright insensitive much of the time. But the heavy handed ogre treatment all works against the film's credulity of Joan's lifetime of restraint and sacrifice that erupts in resentment and fury most people would agree was years late. The imbalance does not stand up and this wife only has herself to blame.