Step into the feminist nightmare! (The Stepford Wives [1975] (DVD))

Name: Ailran

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Product:	The Stepford Wives [1975] (DVD)
Date:	17/10/05 (192 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some great acting and a few nice ideas

Disadvantages: Subverts the intention of the original and a horrific ending.

Nicole Kidman can play black humour better than nearly anyone around. She has the presence for the dramatic side of a part but also has the deftness and comedic talent to sell the humour without going over the top. Gus Van Sant’s To Die For‚ is a perfect example of this kind of performance and this earlier film would have been only mildly diverting without Kidman’s extraordinary performance as Suzanne, the wannabe TV star. The question has to be: why does she not choose or get offered more roles of this ilk?


Stepford Wives has its roots in 1970’s gender politics: alongside the rise of feminist desires for women to have careers beyond the home, anti-feminist male fantasies promoted the notion of a perfect female housewife. The film therefore echoes To Die For, with its portrayal of women who want to rise to the top and will do anything to get there; To Die For’s central character attempts to murder her way to stardom; Stepford Wives shows Nicole Kidman’s character cold-heartedly ransacking relationships to improve her TV company’s ratings. The message here is that business women will do anything for their career – husband and kids are definitely placed on the back burner.
In Joanna’s (Nicole Kidman) case she hasn’t even taken her husbands (Matthew Broderick) surname, another subtle dig at the attitudes of the career businesswomen maybe?

The basic idea of taking the Stepford Wives story updating it and adding touches of comedy is a good one. It has to be done with care though and Frank Oz’s remake loses the satire and thrills for a more broad humour approach. The comedy is the prominent factor here - the subtle social commentary, which you could argue is just as valid today as it was in the 70‚s, is dumped after the opening sequence. Instead we get cheap shots at the kind of shows, like Wife Swap and Fear Factor, foisted on us by Television stations these days. We see Joanna, the TV Executive, holding court at a convention for network affiliates promoting her new shows. She has them all in her power, she obviously is good at what she does and all in the audience love her. The fact that what she is selling them is ludicrous doesn’t seem to matter. They are a collection of Game and Reality Shows taken to the extreme, like ’I Can Do Better’ a show about finding someone better than your husband/wife. Though seeing the depths that companies are stooping to these days, i.e. Can You Pull & Temptation Island, then possibly they are not and perhaps there already are executives out there trying to see how they can legally use the ideas Joanna has come up with.

If the script had stuck to the satirical tone it started with and used the Stepford Wives‚ as a basis for a more black humoured, sardonic take on the difference between the sexes and how each person wants perfection from their partners then we could have had a comedy that was sharper and more thoughtful, a worthy reinvention of a cult‚ film.

Maybe I am being harsh: this isn’t a terrible film: It has some great acting from Nicole Kidman and Bette Midler and the addition of a gay couple to the Stepford town is a reasonably amusing addition for the 2000‘s, though again they go for the obvious jokes rather than using them to make a more ironic comparison with the so called ‘normal‘‚ couples. If you want something that is the comedy equivalent of an Arnie action movie then you’ll be happy.

However the only thought going through my head as the film neared its denouement was “What! That makes no sense, that means…(rest left out to avoid spoiling). There is one of the biggest plot discrepancies I have ever seen in a major film. It contradicts pretty much everything that has gone before and just left me puzzled. I’ve since discovered that there were major re-shoots of the ending. This may be what caused the problems but someone should have realised this before the film was released. This plot hole confused and baffled me, and ruined what could have been a genuinely enjoyable film.

If you are going to get a Stepford Wives film, get the original it is miles better all round.

Stars: Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler, Glenn Close & Christopher Walken.

Running time: 93 minutes and that is still too long!
Directed by: Frank Oz, who should be in hiding after this travesty

Summary: A right royal mess of a film!