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USA 2004
Directed by
Frank Oz
93 minutes
Rated M

Reviewed by
Cynthia Karena
3 stars

Stepford Wives, The (2004)

Synopsis: Joanna Eberhart (Nicole Kidman) is a high-powered president of a Manhattan TV network who has a breakdown when she is fired. She and her family move to country town Stepford in an attempt to rebuild their lives after years of neglect by Joanna on her rise to the top. But Stepford is a little strange. All the women are gorgeous, and are subservient to men in a kind of mythical 50s housewife way. Stepford wives are happy cleaning and baking, baking, baking, and doing whatever else their man wants. But none of the men are gorgeous - so what's going on?

The Stepford Wives is a remake of the 1975 original, which was based on Ira Levin's book of the same name. (Levin also wrote Rosemary's Baby.) The original film was more in line with Levin's idea that the book was supposed to be a nightmare - for women. This is one of the original film's strengths, however, the current film pretty much throws away the nightmare and tries to be "a subversive and comic look at rampant consumerism and the quest for perfection". It is funny, but usually only in its one-liners. That's why Bette Midler was brought on board, I guess. She does her usual comic routine as Joanna's wise-cracking friend Bobbie, who hasn't had the Stepford makeover yet. Subversive,however, it definitely isn't.

The filmmakers concentrate on couples in which the woman has the high-powered, high-earning career and how some insecure men feel about that. It's also an interesting film in the context of the current TV world of makeover mania and examines just where that gets you. However, if Stepford is a man's ideal world - then why are the women wearing demure clothes, rather than sexy little outfits? Why aren't there any mistresses? Since when does fulfilling men's fantasies include monogamy? This is explained in a great little twist at the end.

Nicole Kidman does a surprisingly good job, albeit with a few false notes. And there are some cracker lines, for example, when husband Walter (Matthew Broderick, who really does need a decent haircut) asks her if she really wants to be a castrating Manhattan bitch dressed in black, to which she replies: "Ever since I was little." Some of the best laughs come from sending up TV reality shows and TV executives at the beginning of the film, even before the story really begins.

Christoper Walken, as the head of 'The Men's Association', seems to just go through the paces. He's their leader, and helps the Stepford men define their idea of perfection. Walken is the one guy who could have lent a more menacing air to the film, and really bring it up a few notches into a great remake, rather than merely a good remake. But he is a wasted talent and he seems so bored with it all.

The Stepford Wives is an enjoyable film, despite its struggle to be a socially-aware comedy of our times.

 

 

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