In truth HF is 5 years older then BB, but in the scene where they are checking into the hotel, she appears old enough to be his mother. Strikingly inappropriate.
Especially, given Polanski's preference for younger women, I wonder if this was deliberate, to add to his later adventure with the younger girl.
I was thinking the same thing. Maybe HF likes gummers.
shareAgree. His *wife* was beyond terrible in every aspect:
She was ugly or average at best. To me she was below average, whatever her age is. Even if she seems average to someone else, Harrison Ford is way better than average.
She was clearly older than him. She even had some sort of grayish hair color, which didn't help. When they were looking through the window side by side, he looked 30 and she looked 60. For instance she had wrinkles and looked especially old around her mouth. Her hair was gray too. She must be the oldest looking 41 yo I've ever seen. I couldn't believe she is 5 years younger, she looked at least 20 years older than him. It almost seemed improper for Harrison Ford to fool around with his grand'ma.
She wasn't lovable or lovely. During the hotel scene Ford is really out of his way and ridiculous trying to flirt with her and make sexy innuendos towards her, while *Betty* looked uninterested and annoyed. Who taught her to act like that? Is *that* how a loving wife is supposed to react, really? NOT lovable.
She had no sense of humor, as it becomes clear from her reaction to HF's paper eating joke.
The actress seemed awkward and nervous. Her lines were flat and her delivery was strange.
The reason is simple. The actress only had a couple minutes on screen, so it would be a waste of time and money to hire a talented famous and expensive actress like Meryl Streep for instance, when you could only use her for a few minutes. So they hired *Betty*(!) Buckley, a nobody who was only supposed to look nice and say a few lines. I have seen many average actors doing a fine job along better actors and hold their own. This is not the case. She managed to wreck that too with her lack of looks, talent and common sense. To me, it almost ruined an otherwise decent movie. I kept asking myself: why would someone put his life in danger repeatedly to save his unlikable wrinkly grand'ma?
even in the end after the girl died he seemed pretty disappointed that he was back with the wife again.
Wow... rampant sexism going on here... sorry to have to be the one to break it to you, but it is not a woman's sole purpose in life to be sexually appealing to men
Betty Buckley is 5 years younger than Harrison Ford.... and a perfectly fine looking woman... but does it even matter?
There's this thing you're obviously not aware of... it's called love
It's a connection and bond between people which transcends someone's appearance
Hopefully you're blessed enough to experience it someday
Wow... rampant sexism going on here...Totally agree! Betty Buckley is an attractive fortyish looking woman. She clearly doesn't look 20 years older than Harrison Ford and neither was her character supposed to be some sort of twenties sexpot. They had been married over 20 years according to the script and had 2 teenage children.🐭 share
I dont like all the mean things said but the only reason im even on this page is because of what the op said. I just started this movie for the first time. Only 10mins in now and came to see if anyone else noticed. Dont turn this into a feminist thing. CLEARY this lady looks much older than HF in the movie. I was shocked to see HF is actually older than her. I agree with most of what youve said. But has this world turned into such liberal, feminist hyper-sensitive bunch that its not PC to assess the mixmatch of leads in a movie on imdb. This could be called harold and maude 2 and I wouldnt of known differently. The lady has mostly gray hair for pete's sake.
shareI agree with you
shareBetty Buckley was age appropriate, pretty but not glamorous.....which I believe was Roman's point. The smuggler was young, beautiful and sexy......and the ending was perfect
shareOf course it was deliberate!
- Buckley (the wife) is actually younger than Ford, but is made to look older and as average as possible
- Ford clearly enjoyed being with "the girl" way more.
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At first I thought he was married to an older, rich woman.
shareWow, have to say these remarks about the wife's aga and looks are awful. I won't argue the point, it won't change anyone's thinking.
But the actress was stylish, well put together and did look to be around Ford's age. They very much looked like a couple who had been married a long time.
I'm not saying she looked bad at all. I just thought she looked older than Harrison Ford.
shareYeah, I think Betty Buckley's character was meant to look and act as an average, well-off wife and mother. She was just there to be kidnapped, so the phone call to home was about as much exposition and depth as one was going to get. I feel she served her purpose; it also contrasted the energy and youth of Emmanuelle Seigner's character, which I think was the point.
As for Betty Buckley herself, I thought she was pretty foxy in her role as the gym teacher in "Carrie" (love those short shorts!).
Sela Ward was infinitely more charming in a fraction of the screentime in The Fugitive five years later.
I’m sure Ford’s awkward relationship with his wife in Frantic was deliberate though, Polanski revels in creating discomfort. Ford is tempted by Michelle while frantically pursuing his wife, who might be having an affair.
I’d love to have seen the original ending which apparently gave far more moral ambiguity to the wife.
I think so. Michelle represents temptation and adventure, while his wife represents fidelity, obligations and real life.
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