The Stepford Wives





I hated this movie. Nothing about this movie was good to me.

C-

^^^BOOOO!!!

ahem, its not a laugh out loud movie, but it is funny! i really enjoyed the movie! entertainig!

B-

A movie no one asked for. C-

When I first heard about this, I was looking forward to it. Frank Oz is usually a great comedy director. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Bowfinger are two of my favorite comedies. I love Nicole Kidman and Bette Midler is a good comedienne, so I thought it had great potential. It's too bad it just doesn't deliver. I give it a disappointing C+.

I liked it, enjoyable fluff.

- B

well, im glad im not the only one that enjoyed it!

THE STEPFORD WIVES (2004)


The 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives takes the horror tone of the original and turns it into a comedy, and I must say, it works really well. The idea of women having to be prim and proper and stay at home to cook and clean and be at their husband's beck and call reminds me of how the Bible says women are supposed to be treated, which makes me find the Bible even more ridiculous and hardly relevant in this day and age. I can actually imagine some religious people that think that way watching this movie and thinking women should act that way anyway; they shouldn't have careers and a mind of their own, they're just supposed to cater to their husband, who is the "man of the house" and makes all of the decisions. I know people that think this way now - people that think women shouldn't work and the husband is supposed to "bring home the bacon," and that women shouldn't be president or ministers because it's a man's job. All of that is just crazy and so is anyone who thinks like that. The people that do certainly won't "get" this movie and won't see the problem in women acting this way. This is a "girl power" movie, but not an anti-men movie like some think it is, it's just anti-slavery in relationships, where one person is there simply to serve. It's about both partners being equal and not one of them being lesser than the other one, and not having one partner controlling the other. That's a great message and still relevant today.

I also really liked the poking fun at marriage in the beginning through reality shows that use marriage for entertainment, showing how the sanctity of heterosexual marriage really isn't that sacred and straight people already ruined it. That's an especially significant point now with the big debate on same-sex marriage and the silly assertion that it would "ruin the sanctity of marriage."

Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler, and Roger Bart were great. They all gave fun and funny performances. Midler was especially hilarious and had a couple of great lines. Especially when she says "And I'm going to attach a pinecone to my vibrator and have a really Merry Christmas." That was simply hilarious! I also loved the titles of her books, like the one about the relationship between her and her mother entitled "I Love You, But Please Die." I could relate to their fun sarcastic, cynical attitudes and if I were there I would have fit in very well with them - we'd have a blast! And I loved that they included a gay couple as one way of updating the story and making it more modern. It was a nice addition.

However, some plot holes kind of bothered me.


***************SPOILERS***************

There's a rather huge plot hole in the movie. The women aren't robots, yet there's a robot body of Joanna (Kidman) on the table during Joanna's confrontation with the men towards the end. This is because in the original version of the movie the wives were killed, like in the original The Stepford Wives, and the wives were really robots that had the wives' chip enhanced brains planted in them. But this didn't test well with test audiences who hated the fact that the wives really were murdered. That makes sense, I don't blame them, I wouldn't have liked if that was what really happened either. Especially since the movie is much lighter and not as dark as the original. It just wouldn't have gone over well. So they had to do re-hoots and re-edit the movie, and this scene was left over from the original version. This plot hole extends to other parts of the movie though too, like: If they aren't robots how come Bobbie's (Midler) hand didn't burn when it was in the fire on the stove? And if they aren't robots how come Sarah's (Faith Hill) boobs were able to enhance by remote control? And how could one of the wives be used as an ATM machine and the money was able to come out of her mouth? It just doesn't make sense if they weren't robots, but it wouldn't make complete sense if they were robots either. Either way there are still plot-holes. But I'd rather have the outcome just the way it is in this version. I would have been much more angry if the wives really were dead.

************END SPOILERS*************

It would be nice if the movie added up completely, but I'm able to let the plot-holes slide because the movie doesn't take itself too seriously at all and is just fun popcorn entertainment.

I found The Stepford Wives (2004) to be a very fun, often hilarious, and extremely fast-paced movie. It looked great and had some great one-liners. I think it's underrated. It's not an amazing film, but it's sharply written, well acted, and highly entertaining and fun. I enjoyed it a lot!

Grade: 7/10 (B-)

C+

I chuckled, but it wasn't anything standout.

B-


I appreciated the sterile style of Stepford and the visuals connected to it, but overall the movie just seemed a bit too...bland. The cast is great, but unfortunately the director doesn't take advantage of the movie's cast and explores its full potential. Kidman is good, but not as good as she can usually be. The same goes for Glenn Close and Chris Walken. Most of them kind of seem bored in their roles. I also liked the movie's dark humor, but even there I think it could have gone up a notch. I am happy they didn't go with the original's ending, but were a bit more creative, though.

Blah.

C-/D+

Not much there. Unneeded.

Hilarious and has a great ensemble cast. Bette Midler is fantastic here. I liked it alot.

A-

THE STEPFORD WIVES, a remake of the 1975 film of the same name, had a trailer which showed no real sense of the type of film that it was. While the original was a thriller, this remake looked as if it was taking the comedic route out. After seeing the film, however, I can honestly say that the movie is very funny, but is also rather creepy in its all too perfect world.

Kidman plays Joanna Eberhart, a high-powered televison executive who loses her job after a contestant on one of her reality shows goes on a violent rampage. Her husband Walter (Broderick) decides that it is time for a change, so he moves his wife and their two kids to the small town of Stepford, Conn.

Stepford is not a normal town. It is almost like something out of a 1950's sitcom. All the women are too perfect for words: beautiful blondes who wait on their husbands hand and foot. Glenn Close plays Claire Wellington, the leader of all the women. She is a real estate agent and wholeheartedly welcomes everyone into the town with a smile. She is married to Mike (Christopher Walken), who pretty much controls every man in Stepford. While the men go off for "meetings" at the men's club, the women go to the local day spa, where they work out with routines based on how you clean the house.

Joanna hates this town from the start. She bonds immediately with Bobbie Markowitz (Midler), a writer who has also just moved to Stepford with her deadbeat husband (Lovitz). She is an outcast among the women as well because of her free spirit and the fact that she is the only Jew. Joanna also bonds with Roger (Roger Bart), the "female" half of a gay couple. The three decide to find out what exactly is going on in Stepford through spying and investigating. But after Bobbie and Roger both become "stepfordized," it's up to Joanna to discover the secret that is hidden within the town.

The movie's big secret is fairly obvious from the trailers, and the writer wastes no time in hinting it close to the beginning. It doesn't ruin your enjoyment, however, and it simply just adds to the fun. The ending was very surprising and caught me completely off-guard.

Kidman is very good in one of her few comedic roles, and she is really a character that you can root for. Close is good as well as the all-too-perfect "queen" of the town. Midler is funny as the offbeat best friend, and Broderick does what he can with his character. The only real weak link in the cast is Faith Hill in a rather insignificant role which really has no purpose. I expected more from her character due to the publicity she was recieving.

Overall, THE STEPFORD WIVES is a well-written, funny and chilling summer ride. It doesn't take the easy way out and ends with a slam-bang twist.

8/10 (B+)

{Here's my original review from June 2004:}


The Stepford Wives: The 1st Great Summer Movie of 2004!

Finally, a great summer movie!!!

Really enjoyed The Stepford Wives, my introduction to the story, having somehow missed it's early incarnations. I was thoroughly entertained throughout by Ms. Kidman, Ms. Midler, Ms. Close, and "Ms." Bart. This was a very funny spoof of sexual politics and conformity. Once again the high ratio of bad reviews for this movie seems to indicate the proportion of those who "get" this type of humour and/or who are open to a subversive laugh or ten. Soul Plane was perhaps more laugh out loud funny, but this comedy's laughs are surprisingly sharp and current!


5 out of 5.

I quite like the movie from the opening credits to the end. There is a giant plot hole, but otherwise it's entertaining...

It's really not a terrible movie, just a missed opportunity.
They could have made something so much more, I think the problem is it lacks substance and feels like its been heavily edited, probably due to its disjointed script.

Nicole Kidman is always a joy but feels like she's going through the motions, and Matthew Broderick is unlikable enough as it is without confirming his wimpish public perception here.

The dark satire seems lost.

C+