Title: The Wife.
Director: Bjorn Runge.
Genre: Drama.
Main Cast: Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce, Christian Slater.
Runtime: 99 mins
MDb rating: 7.2/10.
My rating: 8.5/10.
Quick summary: Your husband winning the Nobel Prize for Literature should be a happy occasion. Unless he refuses to acknowledge the help, support and love you gave him along the way. Glenn Close plays the long-suffering wife close to breaking point in this slow-burning, high-rewarding film.
Based on the novel of the same name by Meg Wolitzer, this award-winning film might be a slow burner but it will hook itself into you as you watch the titanic struggle between two literary greats; the only problem being that one does all the work while the other takes the plaudits.
Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce, two giants of the big screen, are impeccable as Joan and Joe Castleman. Both are on screen for virtually the whole film. What starts out as a generally happy marriage between an author who has just been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and his long-suffering wife transforms into a relationship fraught with infidelities, power dynamics and a fragile ego.
Viewers could be forgiven for being a tad bored at the start of the film. If you know the premise of the story before clicking ‘Play Now’, you will know that the meat of the story is cooking in the background. If you don’t know the story, there is a slight lull when they get to Stockholm first that feels like they are trying to spoonfeed you information about the characters. It is nothing major, but could cause some viewers to drop out.
I implore you not to drop out. Stick with it and you will be rewarded. Close and Pryce hold your attention when they are on screen together and Slater’s turn as the slimy wannabe-biographer of the great Joe Castleman is fascinating to watch.
The last twenty minutes had me glued to the screen. The movie is fantastic. Glenn Close had stiff competition for the Oscar that year but after watching this film I feel she deserved it. Check it out on Netflix now and let me know what you think! I talk about this movie on my podcast that was also released today! Please let me know what you think. Thank you for listening and reading!
The Rathpeacon Rambler 