The Stepford Wives (2004, DVD)

I have liked Nicole Kidman for years. I have seen many of her movies and enjoyed them. I tend see her new movies as soon as I can. Some of them don t make it to the theater here in town, so I am forced to wait to rent them. I heard that she was going to be in The Stepford Wives last year sometime, and even before I really knew what the movie was about, I wanted to see it. I wasn t able to get to the theater as soon as I really wanted to see it, but I did get to see it.

Joanna Eberhart was a very successful executive at a television network. She was presenting her new reality shows when a man who d been on one of them turned up. He wasn t happy how things turned out and he blamed Joanna. She wasn t hurt, but the network wasn t pleased about what happened. Joanna was shocked to learn that she was fired. She had a nervous breakdown. Joanna s husband, Walter Kresby, also worked for the same network. After what happened with Joanna, he quit. Once Joanna was recovering from her breakdown, they decided that they needed to leave the city to get their marriage back on track. They bought a house in Stepford Connecticut.

Right from the start, Joanna felt that something was a little off in Stepford. The wives were all gorgeous and looked and acted perfect all the time. The men went to the Stepford Men s Association while the women went to The Stepford day spa and worked out in heels and dresses. Mike and Claire Wellington seemed to run Stepford. The men looked up to Mike and Claire organized things for the women. Joanna met two others who felt out of place like she did at a picnic. Bobby Markowitz was a successful author that moved to Stepford with her husband Dave. They seemed to have some issues. Roger Bannister was an architect that moved to town with his partner Jerry. They also seemed to have some problems to work out.

Joanna, Bobby, and Roger notice more things that just don t seem right around Stepford. During the square dance, Sarah, one of the wives had some sort of seizure that was quickly brushed off. Mike came in and claimed to have everything under control. Joanna noticed something very strange. Roger disappeared for a few days, only to return completely different. He was acting perfect like most of the wives in town. Joanna and Bobby decided that they needed to get out of town, but things didn t go the way they planned. Joanna discovered that all the wives had been successful career women before moving to Stepford.

CAST

Nicole Kidman - Joanna Eberhart
Bette Midler - Bobby Markowitz
Matthew Broderick - Walter Kresby
Glenn Close - Claire Wellington
Christopher Walken - Mike Wellington
Faith Hill - Sarah Sunderson
Roger Bart - Roger Bannister
Jon Lovitz - Dave Markowitz
David Marshall Grant - Jerry

Frank Oz - Director

The Stepford Wives was released on June 11, 2004. The movie was 93 minutes long and rated PG-13. It would probably be all right for older kids to see, if they were interested in the movie. I really don t see this as one kids would be interested in anyway. The movie is based on a book by Ira Levin and a previous movie version was made in 1975. I have not read the book or seen the original movie. I have read a little about the original movie, and it seems like it was a creepier and scarier movie.

I thought that The Stepford Wives was a dark comedy. It wasn t as dark as Death to Smoochy, but it wasn t a lighthearted comedy either. There were some dark things that happened in the movie right from the start. A man turned up and tried to shoot Joanna, and then she had a nervous breakdown when she was fired. She seemed to be on a lot of medication for a while. There was even a reference to the fact that she had received shock therapy. That stuff normally isn t considered funny. It can be hard for dark comedies to work, but I think this one did for the most part. There were a few things that were silly in the movie, but that didn t bother me.

The Stepford Wives did deal with a few serious issues, but the movie really shouldn t be taken seriously. Several things happened throughout the movie that were unbelievable, though there were some believable things that happened as well. Joanna was a driven career woman whose marriage was in trouble. Walter seemed fed up with taking a back seat to Joanna s career. That seemed to be very believable to me. There were some male characters that seemed to be threatened by successful women. In Stepford, the men talked down to the women. Even though it is very common now for women to have successful careers, there are still some men who don t think women should work or who are threatened by successful women. I thought that the men in Stepford were believable, though they did some extreme things. It was a bit convenient that all the men in Stepford seemed to have those views. How did they all end up in the same town? It was shown how Joanna and Walter ended up there. There was a little explanation for how Bobby, Dave, Roger, and Jerry ended up there as well, though not to many details. It wasn t shared how the other couples ended up there. That wasn t a big deal, but I did wonder how they all just happened to end up in the same town where it was possible for what happened to happen.

There were a few things that happened in The Stepford Wives that didn t exactly make sense given the explanation for what was going on. When I first heard about this movie, something critical about the plot of the original was shared then. I didn t think that should have been done since not everyone has seen the original. There were even some things in the previews for this version that gave away a bit too much. So since I heard some things about the original movie, I had some idea about what I thought was going on. Certain things that happened in the movie backed up my idea about what was going on. When the explanation was shared, it was slightly different from what I had thought it would be. That didn t bother me. However, because of the explanation, the certain things that happened earlier in the movie that backed up my idea for what was going on didn t really make sense anymore. I really don t see how one thing could have happened with what the final explanation for what was going on ended up being. It wasn t that big a deal, but it might bother some people more than it did me. Joanna and Walter had two children that were only around for a few scenes. They evidently were shipped off to a day camp, but they weren t home at night either. To me, a day camp would be just during the day and the kids would be home at night. That wasn t going on. At least not with the Kresby kids. Bobby and Dave had three sons that turned up once. They were on their way somewhere, but it wasn t really said where they were going. I was guessing they were going to the day camp too, but if so, then why were they home when the Kresby kids weren t? I believe that some of the other families in Stepford had children, but they weren t shown.

Joanna and Walter had been married for several years. I don t remember hearing how long they had been married. Their marriage was in trouble, but they were trying to work things out. They didn t seem to be too affectionate with each other though. There was some tension between them. Nicole Kidman and Matthew Broderick really didn t have very good chemistry with each other. Bobby and Dave bickered all the time they were in the same scenes. There really wasn t any romance in the movie. During one scene, a couple was heard in another room making love. They were rather loud. That was it as far as sex scenes in the movie went. There was no nudity in the movie.

The acting in The Stepford Wives was good. I really enjoyed Nicole Kidman and Bette Midler. Nicole has mostly done more serious movies, especially in the last few years, but she has done some lighter movies as well. I think she is good in both. I did read somewhere that she decided to do this movie because it was so much lighter than the last several movies she s done. I thought she was very good in the part, though the short, dark, hairstyle did nothing for her. Bette Midler was very funny as Bobby. I ve liked her for years, and was happy to see her in a new movie. Faith Hill did have a part in this movie, but she didn t have many lines at all. She did fine with what she did have. She wasn t the only one that had very little to do in the movie. Most of the residents of Stepford didn t have much to do or say. Glenn Close and Christopher Walken as Claire and Mike Wellington had the biggest parts of the people who had been in Stepford longer. They were both very good in their parts. Mike was a bit odd, but Christopher Walken is very good at those parts. Jon Lovitz has never been one of my favorites. He can be annoying at times. He wasn t in this movie, but that could be because his part wasn t that large. The rest of the actors were fine in their parts.

CHARACTERS

Joanna Eberhart - She was a driven career woman that had a breakdown after she was fired. Joanna was use to being in charge and seemed to have some trouble adjusting to her different life in Stepford, though she was willing to try. She was very suspicious of the people in Stepford and didn t think the wives were normal.

Walter Kresby - Joanna s husband. He d worked at the same network, but his position wasn t as high as Joanna s. He was tired of taking a backseat to Joanna s career. He did seem to want to save his marriage.

Bobby and Dave Markowitz - Another new couple in Stepford. Bobby was a famous writer. She and Dave seemed to having some marriage trouble.

Roger Bannister and Jerry Harmon - Gay couple that just moved to Stepford. They had been having trouble in their relationship and hoped moving to Stepford would help.

Claire and Mike Wellington - Couple that has lived in Stepford for a long time. Claire seemed to be in charge of the women. She taught a workout class based on exercises she invented and held the book club meetings. Mike spent most of his time at the men s club where he seemed to lead the men. Everyone seemed to look to Mike for guidance.

The Stepford Wives did have a few problems, mainly with how a few things were possible, but it was an entertaining movie that I did enjoy. Fans of the actors may enjoy this movie. People who can t stand Nicole Kidman may want to stay clear since she does play the main character. If I had the option here, I'd give the movie three and a half stars. To me, it was just a little better than an average movie, but not quite as good as four stars. Since I can't go with that option, I'm rounding up to four stars.

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