The Wife

Reviews

CinemaSerf
"Joe" (Jonathan Pryce) has won the Nobel prize for literature and so must travel with his wife "Joan" (Glenn Close) to Stockholm to receive the award from the King of Sweden. Embarking on Concorde (which never flew to Stockholm) the couple arrive to be feted by Nobel literati and pestered by "Nathanial" (Christian Slater) who is determined to write a biography of this author. Neither husband nor wide want anything to do with him, and swiftly we learn that their son "David" (Max Irons) doesn't really want too much to do with his father, either. Using some flashbacks to their courting days, we learn a little about this couple and discover that much of their lives is but a façade with secrets and rancour galore in their marital closet. It's a drunken chat between the son and the journalist that proves to be the familial flashpoint and the timing could hardly be worse! Whilst most of the acting plaudits must go to a calculating performance from Close, Pryce isn't terrible either - unlike messrs. Slater and Irons who really add little to a story that takes about five minutes to work out. It's all watchable enough, but there's no chemistry nor does it feel very natural at any point in the proceedings. Sure, the whole Nobel paraphernalia doesn't make that too easy, but somehow it's like a short stage play that someone has decided would make for a film - without really realising just how sterile it would look.
Movie Recommendation
- Santiago, Italia2018-12-06After the coup d'État of the Democratic government of Allende, the embassy of Italy in Santiago played a major role in helping the opposers of the regime, and extradited many of them to Italy.More...
- Can You Ever Forgive Me?2018-10-19When a bestselling celebrity biographer is no longer able to get published because she has fallen out of step with current tastes, she turns her art form to deception.More...
- Vice2018-12-25George W. Bush picks Dick Cheney, the CEO of Halliburton Co., to be his Republican running mate in the 2000 presidential election. No stranger to politics, Cheney's impressive résumé includes stints as White House chief of staff, House Minority Whip and Defense Secretary. When Bush wins by a narrow margin, Cheney begins to use his newfound power to help reshape the country and the world.More...
- The Cakemaker2017-12-28Thomas, a young German baker, is having an affair with Oren, an Israeli married man who has frequent business visits in Berlin. When Oren dies in a car crash in Israel, Thomas travels to Jerusalem seeking for answers regarding his death. Under a fabricated identity, Thomas infiltrates the life of Anat, his lover’s newly widowed wife, who owns a small Café in downtown Jerusalem. Thomas starts to work for her, creating German cakes and cookies that bring her Café to life. Thomas finds himself involved in Anat’s life in a way far beyond his anticipation. To protect the truth he will stretch his lie to a point of no return.More...
- Jo Koy: Live from Seattle2017-03-28Between raising a teenage boy and growing up with a Filipino mother, stand-up comic Jo Koy has been through a lot. He's here to tell you all about it.More...
- Social Animals2018-06-01Determined not to turn into her parents, or be drawn into any relationship longer than a one night stand, Zoe constantly struggles with her failing business and love life. Then she falls in love for the first time with Paul. But there's one problem: Paul is married.More...
- The Friends At The Margherita Café2009-04-03Bologna, 1954. Taddeo, a young man of 18 whom everyone calls Kid, dreams of becoming one of the regulars of the mythical Margherita Café, located under the portico across from his family's home. Through a ploy, he manages to get work as the chauffeur for Al, the neighborhood's most glamorous and mysterious resident. Having been taken under Al's wing, Taddeo gets to witness the adventures of Bep, who is in love with Marcella the entraineuse; the trials and tribulations of Gian, an aspiring singer and the victim of a horrible practical joke; the crazy behavior of Manuelo, a small-time robber with a sex phobia; the meanness of Zanchi, inventor of the elastic necktie; and the bizarre manias of Sarti, a ballroom dancing champion who wears his tux day and night. And Taddeo's home life is no less out of the ordinary, considering his mother is being led on by the family physician while his grandfather has fallen head over heels for a well-built piano teacher.More...
- Madhouse2004-07-30A young psychiatric intern unearths secrets about the mental health facility in which he works.More...
- Merchants of Doubt2014-11-08Spin doctors spread misinformation and confusion among American citizens to delay progress on such important issues as global climate change.More...
- Damascus Cover2017-10-23A spy navigates the precarious terrain of love and survival during an undercover mission in Syria.More...
- To Walk Invisible2016-12-26To Walk Invisible takes a new look at the extraordinary Brontë family, telling the story of these remarkable women who, despite the obstacles they faced, came from obscurity to produce some of the greatest novels in the English language.More...
- Lola Pater2017-08-09When his mother dies, Zino decides to look for his father, Farid. But twenty-five years ago, Farid became Lola.More...
- Love Them All2019-10-03She always has a plan. For each his own. For everyone another name. One needs Vera (Faith), another Nadezhda (Hope). And almost all need Liubov (Love). She leaves every one at his own time. She finds a reason. But who knows where deceit ends which people buy only for the sake of money, and when genuine feelings begin? And who knows who she is: just a kept woman in the capital, or an artful swindler, or a talented actress, or a woman who is able only to love? To love them all.More...
- The Driftless Area2015-04-18Pierre Hunter, a bartender with unyielding optimism, returns to his tiny hometown after his parents' death. When he falls for the enigmatic Stella, Pierre is unknowingly pulled into a cat-and-mouse game that involves a duffel bag full of cash, a haphazard yet determined criminal, and a mystery that will determine all of their fates. A contemporary fable about the ways we struggle to control time and fate in a possibly predetermined universe.More...
- Julius2018-09-14An organised arts teacher has only one main problem in life, which is his father – a painter always going from one party to the next. When the father lives through his second heart attack and still refuses to change his lifestyle, Julius will have to find a way to influence his behaviour.More...
- The Shoplifters2019-02-06A series of tableaux depicting the follies of a group of naïve Marxist would-be radicals who think that they want to be revolutionaries, but in the final analysis, what they really want is to be seen wearing berets.More...
- The Ex-Wife of My Life2004-12-08Six years after their split, a woman attempts to get her ex-husband back by unusual means.More...
- It Comes2018-12-07To protect his family from a mysterious being, a man joins forces with a journalist and an exorcist - but they come to learn what they are dealing with is beyond their imagination.More...
- The Secret Life of Words2005-12-15A solitary nurse bonds with a badly burned patient who survived an accident on an oil rig.More...
- Being Poirot2013-11-13After 25 years playing Hercule Poirot, British actor David Suchet explores the enduring appeal of his most legendary character.More...
Similar Movies
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof...
1958-08-29An alcoholic ex-football player drinks his days away, having failed to come to terms with his sexuality and his real feelings for his football buddy who died after an ambiguous accident. His wife is crucified by her desperation to make him desire her: but he resists the affections of his wife. His reunion with his father—who is dying of cancer—jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.Contempt
1963-10-29A philistine in the art film business, Jeremy Prokosch is a producer unhappy with the work of his director. Prokosch has hired Fritz Lang to direct an adaptation of "The Odyssey," but when it seems that the legendary filmmaker is making a picture destined to bomb at the box office, he brings in a screenwriter to energize the script. The professional intersects with the personal when a rift develops between the writer and his wife.Breathless
1960-03-16A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he attempts to persuade a girl to run away to Italy with him.Ronia: The Robber's D...
1984-12-14Ronia lives happily in her father's castle until she comes across a new playmate, Birk, in the nearby dark forest. The two explore the wilderness, braving dangerous Witchbirds and Rump-Gnomes. But when their families find out Birk and Ronia have been playing together, they forbid them to see each other again. Indeed, their fathers are competing robber chieftains and bitter enemies. Now the two spunky children must try to tear down the barriers that have kept their families apart for so long.The Silence of the La...
1991-02-14Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.The Shawshank Redempt...
1994-09-23Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.The Apartment
1960-06-21Bud Baxter is a minor clerk in a huge New York insurance company, until he discovers a quick way to climb the corporate ladder. He lends out his apartment to the executives as a place to take their mistresses. Although he often has to deal with the aftermath of their visits, one night he's left with a major problem to solve.Desert Hearts
1985-10-01While waiting for her divorce papers, a repressed literature professor finds herself unexpectedly attracted by a carefree, spirited young woman named Cay.The Celebration
1998-06-19The family of a wealthy businessman gather to celebrate his 60th birthday. During the course of the party, his eldest son presents a speech that reveals a shocking secret.Once Upon a Time in A...
1984-05-23A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan over thirty years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.Grill Point
2002-02-12In the style of a documentary this tragic comedy tells the story of a relationship crisis between two married couples and their longing to break out of their miserable daily lives. In this East German post-wall movie Andreas Dresen introduces the sad everyday life of two couples from Frankfurt an der Oder in a honest and tolerable manner.Mystic River
2003-10-07The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them suffers a family tragedy.Monsieur Ibrahim
2003-09-17Paris, 1960s. Momo, a resolute and independent Jewish teenager who lives with his father, a sullen and depressed man, in a working-class neighborhood, develops a close friendship with Monsieur Ibrahim, an elderly Muslim who owns a small grocery store.Good Bye, Lenin!
2003-02-13Alex Kerner's mother was in a coma while the Berlin wall fell. When she wakes up he must try to keep her from learning what happened (as she was an avid communist supporter) to avoid shocking her which could lead to another heart attack.Eyes Wide Shut
1999-07-16After Dr. Bill Harford's wife, Alice, admits to having sexual fantasies about a man she met, Bill becomes obsessed with having a sexual encounter. He discovers an underground sexual group and attends one of their meetings -- and quickly discovers that he is in over his head.People on Sunday
1930-02-04A semi-documentary experimental 1930 German silent film created by amateurs with a small budget. With authentic scenes of the metropolis city of Berlin, it's the first film from the later famous screenwriters/directors Billy Wilder and Fred Zinnemann.The Devil Wears Prada...
2006-06-29Andy moves to New York to work in the fashion industry. Her boss is extremely demanding, cruel and won't let her succeed if she doesn't fit into the high class elegant look of their magazine.Longing
2006-02-15An average, everyday metalworker and volunteer firefighter content in his marriage to his childhood sweetheart finds his emotions unexpectedly stirred when he falls for a pretty waitress from a nearby town.Das Boot
1981-09-17A German submarine hunts allied ships during the Second World War, but it soon becomes the hunted. The crew tries to survive below the surface, while stretching both the boat and themselves to their limits.Who's Afraid of Virgi...
1966-06-22A history professor and his wife entertain a young couple who are new to the university's faculty. As the drinks flow, secrets come to light, and the middle-aged couple unload onto their guests the full force of the bitterness, dysfunction, and animosity that defines their marriage.