MovieChat Forums > The Wife (1996) Discussion > Very interesting and strange movie.

Very interesting and strange movie.


I enjoyed it a lot, but there does not seem to be much discussion about
this. For instance Cosmo and his wife are always arguing, anbd Cosmo
wants to push his wife away, and his wife always seems to want to act
in a shocking and embarassing way, yet they need each other ... definitely
parallels at least "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolfe".

Seems those who bothered rated this highly.

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[deleted]

Thanks for that reply ... but that is sort of the point, why write a movie script that delves into this "thing" if there is not a clear statement to be made. Now, you might say because it is entertaining ... to which I would reply, maybe, but why, and what is the point? We can output things in the media that go right into our brains and we rationalize the images just like we do in real life, but how does it change us, because little by little it does, and enough of the same random or non-random stuff sticks in our consciousnesses like arterial plaque sticks to our veins ... at least we should have a way to tell if it is good cholesterol or bad cholesterol, no? ;-)

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This is indeed intense viewing. While I appreciated the provocation and artistry here, I don't think I could watch this again, at least for a very long time.

Much of the dialogue made me squirm, yet I could not turn away. I saw the parallels to "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe," along with Bergman films such as "Scenes From a Marriage." The hypnotically beautiful look of this film seems inspired by Bergman as well – or, more accurately, Sven Nykvist. 7/10 stars from me.

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I thought it was fantastic. 9/10, losing a point only due to the last act not being quite as good as what preceded it.

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See a list of my favourite films here: http://www.flickchart.com/slackerinc

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I saw it on IFC probably over 25 years ago. All I remember is Tom Noonan lounging around in a robe and drinking wine and being cringily pretentious. When I noticed in the credits that he wrote and directed it I thought, "Figures."

Yet for some reason it popped into my head and I kinda feel like seeing it again, no idea why... but that's the reason I'm here right now.

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The comparison to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe has me intrigued. Plus all the reviewers except you 🤣 rate it highly. It looks like a "must see".

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Since I actually do want to see it again, I'm assuming most of the movie was good. Just not when Mr. Noonan was on screen and literally playing himself.

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Oh, is Noonan "one of those" who can only play one character?

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The only other things I remember him in were Manhunter and Robocop 2, I doubt he was playing himself in those.

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Explain this comment:

I'm assuming most of the movie was good. Just not when Mr. Noonan was on screen and literally playing himself.

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Sigh...

From what I can remember, the character played by Tom Noonan was annoyingly pretentious. But it didn't seem to be played for laughs, like some jerk on Curb Your Enthusiasm. I got the sense that whoever wrote it probably created that character to insert themself into the story so they could preach their own oh so profound philosophy. Sort of a Mary Sue. "I'm so darn insightful, I have everything about life and relationships all figured out, I must teach the world through my screenplay."

After the movie was over, I noticed it was written and directed by very person who played that character. At that point I thought, "Of course, I should have guessed." It seemed obvious to me that Noonan must think very highly of himself.

I have a pretty good memory, but this was 25 years ago. It's just my dim personal impression. I could be all wet about this, who knows?

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Okay, thanks for the explanation. It was not self evident. That's why I asked. Sigh.

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