The Stepford Wives (2004)

Goofy

I heard that this remake was terrible, but finally caught it on TV and found myself laughing more than most comedies. I loved Kidman and Midler's neurotic characterizations. A lot of the jokes/cuts were cheap but still worked in the context of a low comedy that was just fun and seemed not to pretend to be much more.

Okay, sure, what a risk to remake an iconic serious "horror" film and social commentary like the original as a silly comedy!! Maybe it was a dumb idea, but I am glad they did it because I got a kick out of it. Yes it made no sense toward the end and could have been done much better in terms of logic, for example, one minute the women were robots and then they just have chips in their brains. ETC. That is just one thing of several that would beg for forgiveness if this film in any way pretended to be serious! Yes I would have liked tighter logic, but I would forgive anyway because there were some very cute scenes.

So five stars means don't necessarily pass it up just because of all the terrible reviews. Kidman and Midler are cute. The characterizations by the other big name actors are variably adequate. Including a gay man as one of the wives is goofy but adds interest. The digs related to the Big City of New York relative to Connecticut as a sort of cultural refuge may offend some -- but hey, its the sort of stuff you might find in a goofy Woody Allen film and chuckle at. So with tons of fair warning from other reviewers, if you feel in a mood to watch this anyway, just relax and enjoy! It can be done.

July 31, 2008

Utter and Complete Garbage

In an interview I read last year, Nicole Kidman claimed she made
"The Stepford Wives" and "Bewitched" to stay "busy" in the aftermath
of her divorce from Tom Cruise. What a pathetic excuse for making
bad movies. Turmoil and upheaval should lend itself to dynamic
acting choices and powerful performances. Everything about this
movie suffers from a lack of vision and integrity. Those of us who are
familiar with the original movie know what a complete debaucle this
updated version turned out to be. Perennial favorites Christopher
Walken and Bette Midler did not help save the film. As for placing
Broderick and Kidman in the leads, they simply had no chemistry at
all. But when I think of who might have been able to pull it off, no one
comes to mind. Lousy writing, a lack of vision, and poor acting choices for
the leads made this a tragically bad film. Don't bother with it. July 12, 2008

Truly pathetic and nonsensical

Great cast, nice diversity. And Christopher Walken. Gotta love that guy.

But the movie can't decide if we are looking at robots - as is obvious by the Kidman-clone robot on the slab when Kidman is about to undergo the process - or modified humans, as the end attests. But how is a male robot a "Stepford Husband" and ... gripes - it's just idiotic. One minute they are robots / atm machines / vacuum cleaners. The next they are just women with modified wetwork. Then robots. Then clones. Huh? Wah?

Save your money.
May 3, 2008

Worst Remake Ever

Ira Levin wrote a tight, amazingly concise, spine-tingling thriller that was made into a good film in the early seventies. The original film is still fun to watch and no less credible because of its dated fashions or dialog.
And then along comes this turkey.
This remake is not believable. It contradicts itself (Someone with a microchip implant doesn't react to an ATM card-swipe by spitting out cash ... that was just lame) and it spits all over the biting social commentary of the original plot. It's indicative of just how far we HAVEN'T come that an important and even risky idea of the early 70s would be "remade" to disregard the entire point of the story. The advances for which women have worked so hard are treated superficially in this film and thrown back in our faces as if completely inconsequential. This film itself is every bit as misogynistic as the terrifying storyline of the original, and so it feels disrespectful not only to its own origins but disrespectful to its audience as well. The original film might well have been warning all of us against a time when something like this could be created. The people involved in making this completely, utterly missed the whole point of the original story, and it ticks me off.
If your gonna destroy and disrespect a story, you shouldn't do it to one as sociologically important as this one. April 27, 2008

Kind of cute

I know this is tecnically supposed to be a suspense/weird horror type of film disguised as something clean and pure. However, in that respect, it fails. There is nothing horrifying, shocking, or mysterious about it. On the other hand, it does have an interesting premise, even though everyone knows its a remake. Its sort of cooky and weird, but in the comical sense, it somewhat works. Better Midler is quite good in this. She really brings that extra bit of humour to this film. Nicole does an admirable job, as usual, portraying a non-housewife. And not an inkling of aussie accent. She can do anything really. This movie is by no means great or anything remotely like it. But it is amusing at times and for some reason always makes me feel light-hearted after watching it. I never saw the original, but have heard that this is a poor replicate. However, if you have not seen the original, like myself, for what it is, its alot of fun. February 20, 2008

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