The Wife Reviews

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a solid cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I really liked these 2 characters who both turned out to be quite complex and fairly well developed. Of course, the fact that Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce both gave some really strong performances also helped. Eventually, I’m not surprised that Close got another nomination for an Academy Award for her brilliant work in this movie, what is more bewildering is that she still didn’t get one following such a stellar career. Unfortunately, even though it was a blast to see Pryce and Close at the top of their game, to be honest, I didn’t care much about the story though. Basically, for a good while, you wonder what’s going on with this couple. At first, you might think it had to do with the fact that Joe constantly cheated on his wife throughout their whole relationship but, as pointed out by Christian Slater’s character, there is something terribly cliché about a genius writer with an uncontrollable libido. However, instead, they went into a complete direction but this twist (she was actually the one who wrote all his books) was never really interesting and/or convincing. It probably had to do with the fact that this revelation came too late to be properly developed and the couple of flashbacks were certainly not enough. I mean, why didn’t they co-sign all the books after the 1st one became a hit? I mean, sure, with the 1st book, they were pretty desperate and that’s why they took some drastic measure but they never gave any explanation why they kept this arrangement forever. Furthermore, why did she stay with him after all these years if she resented this situation so much? Anyway, to conclude, even if the material was not great, the actors involved were quite spellbinding to behold and only therefore the damned thing is actually worth a look. 

One of the blessings and obsessions of the cinematic eye is intensely observing the faces of great actors telegraphing conflicting emotions through the subtlest movements. It’s in the way a mouth may tighten while the eyes are trying to look soft and kind, or the terse body language that contrasts with the words coming out of the mouth. Sometimes it’s the silences that are filled with so much palpable tension as the emotional undercurrents spark off the actor’s face.

What I’m really talking around here is that these faces are frequently of the feminine persuasion. Ingrid Bergman’s emotional unease in Casablanca sustains several quiet moments with electricity. Greta Garbo’s Queen Christina is justifiably famous for its ending that zooms in on her face alternating between heartbreak, totemic solemnity, and romantic poetry. Then there’s the entirety of The Passion of Joan of Arc which obsessively caresses Renée Falconetti’s face as it traverses from frightened youth to blessed martyr.

Behold, The Wife and the chance to watch Glenn Close give an interior, subtle performance that makes you want to throw a shoe it’s so good. The rest of the movie is not quite up to her level, but it’s never an outright bomb. The Wife mistakes the audience’s intelligence to understand what Close’s masterful performance is doing that it must speak loudly what she’s already communicated quietly.

Close’s work places itself in the same hallway as those classic films, but the rest of the film is decided lesser. There’s too many subplots and diversions away from the central core of the film – the secrets, resentments, and deferments involved in the marriage between Close and Jonathan Pryce, scheduled to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. There’s more than another drama there to sustain the narrative, but The Wife throws in Christian Slater as unauthorized biographer who exists merely to create flareups and a scene in flashback with Elizabeth McGovern as a jaded female author. These moments are too on the nose and literal when Close has already expressed it so much better.