The Wife (2017)

It's Oscar night tomorrow —actually, it's early Monday morning here but nevermind— and since I'm going to lose one night of sleep and sit through the hostless ceremony that is going to award Bohemian Rhapsody and Roma, I figured I should also watch all the movies that split under the radar that somehow made it to the Oscars. The Wife is one of those movies as Glenn Close is up for Best Actress. 

The story follows a charismatic writer, Joe Castleman (Jonathan Pryce), and his devoted wife, Joan (Glenn Close). When Joe is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his acclaimed body of work and they travel to Stockholm to attend the ceremony, Joan begins to question her life choices and her forty-year marriage built upon uneven compromises and sacrifices.

The biggest issue with The Wife is the story. Simple and plot-heavy at the same time, it lacks credibility, it's predictable, it doesn't always make sense, it has too many pointless subplots and a twist that couldn't have impressed me any less —women writers always had a public even in earlier years (Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters and Agatha Christie, to name a few), therefore Joan giving up her writing in the 1950s when she had no chance as a woman is an absolute bullshit. Sure, she probably wouldn't have had the same success as her husband, nor would it have been as easy to get published, but it sure wasn't impossible if she was as talented as she turns out to be. As a result, the story isn't never compelling —I found it to be quite boring, to be honest.

As a character study, The Wife works a bit better. Joan is the perfect example of the woman who sacrifices her life and career for the man she loves, a woman who has lived her entire life in the shadow of her successful husband. All of a sudden, she reaches her breaking point and she snaps. She is not sympathetic nor likeable but Glenn Close and her strong, compelling but not Oscar-worthy performance make you feel for her. Annie Starke —Close's real life daughter— gives an equally compelling performance as the younger version of Joan. Joe is a self-absorbed, narcissistic man addicted to the spotlight, a spotlight he does not deserve. A man who criticizes everyone in his life, from his wife to his "looking for father's approval" son, and Jonathan Pryce gives a solid performance. Christian Slater is completely wasted in the role of a Nathaniel Bone, the journalist who makes Joan begin to question her life choices, as he's nothing but a plot device.

Sony Pictures Classics

As for the direction, I'm pretty sure if someone more skilled had the job, The Wife would have been a more successful and compelling drama. The thing is that Björn Runge keeps playing the twist as if it was some big reveal or something, which it isn't as it's very clear right from the start, so the tension he tries to build never lifts off. There are also some frustrating, annoying scenes that are dragged way too long and add nothing to the film.

Very Bad Things (1998)

I don't know how Very Bad Things ended up on my watchlist —I think it was on a Top 10 Black Comedies list or something—, I just know that it did somehow and I've been putting it off ever since, that being about four years. I finally decided to give it a chance and damn, it is messed up. 

The film follows a group of friends, Kyle Fisher (Jon Favreau), Charles Moore (Leland Orser), Robert Boyd (Christian Slater), Michael Berkow (Jeremy Piven) and his brother Adam (Daniel Stern), who heads to Las Vegas for Kyle's bachelor party. With booze and cocaine in their bloodstream, they get pretty wild, things get out of control and a prostitute (Kobe Tai) gets killed. They decide to get rid of the body and soon the bodies are piling up. 

The story is a very, very, very dark and twisted one, the kind of story you either like or hate. And, no matter how ridiculous and far-fetched it is, or how many plot holes it has, it's definitely got the potential to be pretty awesome. Unfortunately, the execution leaves a lot to be desired and the result is a boring and uninteresting story, and it feels like it's never coming to an end.

The characters are all terrible people which is the filmmakers' way to show that every single one of us has a bad side, no matter how nice and good they look, especially those that look like saints. They also are quite annoying and irritating though which makes the film pretty difficult to watch and makes you wish they all could die. In the end they all get what they deserve, especially Cameron Diaz's Laura, Kyle's fiancée, who easily is the most obnoxious of the bunch. Robert was the only likeable character for me but I guess I liked him because I have a soft spot for Christian Slater and his charisma. 

Which brings me to the cast and their overall terrible performances, especially Diaz's as she yet again delivers her predictable shallow and wooden performance. There's something positive to say about the actors though, they don't act as if they were in a comedy but as if that shit happened in real life —they panic, freak out and do stupid things without trying to be funny, just like most human beings would do in that situation. 

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

As I mentioned above, the biggest issue I had with Very Bad Things is the way it was executed, not only plot-wise. You don't just need a dark story and some jokes but make an effective dark comedy, you need to set the right tone and of course to entertain. The film has a very dark tone right from the start, but it's more dramatic than comic and it keeps being that way for most of the film's running time. Sure, there are some funny moments —no matter how tasteless they are, some jokes are funny— but overall the film felt flat for me.