Cast: Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler, Matthew Broderick, Christopher Walken, Faith Hill, Glenn Close, Roger Bart, Jon Lovitz
Director: Frank Oz
Producers: Donald De Line, Gabriel Grunfeld, Scott Rudin, Edgar J. Scherick
Screenplay: Paul Rudnick, based on the novel by Ira Levin
Cinematography: Rob Hahn
Music: David Arnold
U.S. Distributor: Paramount Pictures
It can easily be argued that a straightforward remake of the 1975 science fiction thriller, The Stepford Wives, would not be possible in today's climate. After all, the original film traded heavily on the womens' liberation movement, and today's audiences accept the equality of men and women as a given. Plus, what might have been considered a clever twist 30 years ago has been reduced by the passage of time into something cheesy and clichéd. (Actually, even in 1975, viewers of "Star Trek," "Doctor Who," and/or "The Twilight Zone" would have seen the surprise coming.) So what to do? While the wiser course probably would have been to abandon the project at an early stage, the filmmakers chose instead to turn The Stepford Wives into a comedy. Calling this a "bad idea" is an understatement.
Yes, Paul Rudnick's script generates some laughs and there are a couple of nasty zingers (including one aimed squarely at AOL). But the comedy is not consistent or edgy enough to distract us from the underlying storyline, which, freed from the need to be played straight, is inconsequential and uninvolving. We don't care about what's happening. There's no tension, no character development, and absolutely no reason to stay in theaters once Rudnick's humor has started to wear thin. The tone of the material defeats director Frank Oz; he never manages to strike an effective balance between the thriller elements and the comedic ones. And, to exacerbate an already unfortunate situation, Rudnick and Oz tack on a new ending that's so godawful it's not even worth thinking about.
The broad strokes of the story will be familiar to those who have seen the 1975 movie and/or read the Ira Levin book from which it was adapted. Joanna Eberhart (Nicole Kidman) is a TV executive who is fired after a reality show contestant goes on a shooting spree. Needing a fresh start, Joanna, along with her husband, Walter (Matthew Broderick), and their two children, moves to the town of Stepford, Connecticut. But there's something strange going on there. Except for Joanna and another newcomer, Bobbi (Bette Midler), all of the women are perfectly-groomed, subservient sex toys. It doesn't take much digging for Joanna to determine what's wrong with the Stepford wives, but, by then, she may have lost her husband to the local mens' club, the members of which hide a dark secret.
This is the second collaboration between Rudnick and Oz, but it's nowhere near as successful as their first outing, In and Out. Rudnick's shtick quickly grows tiresome, and some of the characters he intends to be humorous fail to provoke a chuckle. These include a gay caricature, played with irritating effeminate mannerisms by Roger Bart; a wicked witch-type, essayed by Glenn Close; and a small, deadpan part for Christopher Walken. Walken's role isn't written with a great deal of overt comedy; I think we're supposed to laugh just because he's Christopher Walken. To be completely fair, Ruddick and Oz craft a pair of Reality TV parodies that are hilarious - unfortunately, neither lasts more than a minute. And a later spoof of a school educational film is considerably less effective.
If the film is to work on any level, even a comedic one, it's necessary for the viewers to sympathize with Joanna and Walter. However, the script and scattershot performances keep them at arm's length. Nicole Kidman is in full scenery-chewing mode, and Matthew Broderick hasn't been this invisible since Ferris Bueller had to go back to school. There is a rather long and tedious scene in which the two discuss their marriage, but this did nothing except try my patience. In order for character-building material to work, it's necessary to start with legitimate characters. There aren't any in The Stepford Wives. All we have is robots on auto-pilot, and that appears to extend beyond who's on screen.
© 2004 James Berardinelli