This movie has remained relevant for my generation
This remake of the 1975 blockbuster (itself based on Ira Levin's book) updates the plot with current events, and modern plot twists. Cynics can no longer write off this title as a time-sensitive fad, and must instead acknowledge its continued urgency to American cultural and political life. Because the fashions and home decorations are generally updated for today's audiences, it is easier for my and future generations to focus upon the storyline's relevance to our own lives.

After she is fired from her network executive position and then suffers a nervous breakdown, Joanna Eberhard (Nicole Kidman) and her family move to the idyllic town of Stepford Connecticut. Priding herself on independence and strength, Joanna is quickly horrified to learn that most of the town's female residents are unabashed throwbacks to the idealized version of the 1950s, and Mike Wellington (Christopher Walken) presides over a quasi-secret men's club while wife Claire exherts a parallel pull over most female residents. Joanna quickly bonds with fellow outcast Bobbie Markowitz (Bette Middler), a writer who has remained cynical about the hamlet AND retained liberation despite her own long-term Stepford residence.

Contrasting with the earlier film (which arrived shortly after the stonewall rebellion and before GLBT Americans came out in today's numbers), this version has an openly gay couple in the town---Roger Banister (Roger Bart) and Jerry Harmon (David Marshall Grant) . The people of Stepford pride themselves on being robo-Republicans but they are also happy to be just open-minded enough to publicly acknowledge the long-term relationship (hardly a benign issue with same-sex marriage making headlines around the country). Alas, he too is headed for dire consequences---because he becomes one of the very few Log Cabin Republicans after his own transformation.

Joanna's husband Walter Kresby (Matthew Broderick) appears visibly reluctant in his own right to claim the numerous privileges Stepford confers upon him specifically because of sex. He is obviously charmed by the town, but eventually realizes that he had specifically fallen in love with Joanna because she was an independent person who could NEVER be the "all American homemaker".

Well-placed jabs at infamous rightwing women activists (such as Phyllis Schafly and Beverly Lahaye) abound when the town finally wakes up and realizes who was REALLY responsible for programming all of the women into being airheads. Not all women are victims of subordination because other women made a very public name for themselves ensuring that their gender either remains or returns to inequality. When the plan is explained, this same person becomes instantly transformed from the idealized norm to a desperate and psychotic shell

Yet, if men are really unwitting accomplices in this same caper, this critical scripting update also suggests they can be, should be, and are important partners in women's equality. Women's liberation ultimately makes both genders happy and well-rounded members of society. Conversely, women's restriction also prevents men from enjoying life.

Why the overall fairly low rating out there. I don't know. you'll have to ask them. I refuse to read their reviews and maybe kill my high.

I must have been in an excellent mood because right from the beginning and by the beginning I mean the beginning credits, this movie captured me, delighted me, enthralled me. All that was missing was a kiss from you know who. No, not Bette Midler, smart alec, Nicole Kidman, although she too looked pretty good when she was, how should I say this, altered.

The Story

Joanna Eberhard (Kidman), a driven, overachieving television executive takes the network programing too far over the top and is canned. After recovering from a nervous breakdown, her husband, Walter Kresby (Matthew Broderick, whom I shall always think of as the ultra cool Ferris Bueller) pack up Joanna, the kids and move to the beautiful exclusive upscale Connecticut community of Stepford where life is supposed to be simple and Joanna can continue to recover.

Stepford is more than simple though, it's sinister, it's creepy, it's unnatural. It's like dreading coming back from three hour lunch hour which included four margaritas and all your co-workers and your boss are standing at your desk with big smiles and warmly welcoming you back. SPOOKY!
Well that's how Joanna and her friends, author Bobbie Markowitz (Bette Midler) and gay partner, Roger Bannister (Roger Bart) viewed it, SPOOKY. And all the wives were gorgeous and fully made up and dressed to the hilt at all times. Contrast this with the men who were basically average to unattractive nerds. And why do they always hang out at the Men's Club?

The answer to that plus a few great laughs are at you local theater.

Writers: Ira Levin (book), Paul Rudnick (screenwriter)

Directed by: Frank Oz

Conclusion

My conclusion is this. Frank Oz's directing was masterful. The story was clever, the acting especially Kidman's was superb. Just watching her facial expressions evolve after she was fired was amazing. Even Faith Hill did a credible job with the few lines she had. Ron Bart, Jon Lovitz and Bette Midler were funny as heck and brought a breath of fresh air and the ending was a total surprise, at least to me. So what's not to like.

One word of warning, this is not a creepy thriller. If you are going to this movie expecting to see something akin to the original movie, which stared Katharine Ross, don't bother. This Stepford Wives movie has a veneer of the original, at least at first but as it progresses the more you see the new Stepford Wives for what it really is, a Black Comedy.

Joanna (Nicole Kidman) is an executive who runs a television network. She seems to be responsible for some of the big reality shows that are being aired (we meet her as she is announcing several new shows that take "reality tv" to a ridiculous level). When one of the reality shows backfires in a public way, Joanna is fired from her job and suffers and emotional breakdown. It is to help Joanna and to begin a new life that her husband, Walter (Matthew Broderick) moves the family from the big city up to Connecticut to a town called Stepford.

Stepford seems like the perfect town. Everyone is pleasant, if a little too perky and perfect. Joanna and Walter are welcome to the community by Claire (Glenn Close). Claire seems to be the leader of the Stepford women's group and the town seems to be organized around the Men's Club and the Women's Day Spa. Walter is welcomed right into the Men's Club and he feels at home. Joanna, on the other hand, is very skeptical because all the women seem like they are exaggerations and someone else's idealizations. For example, the women all exercise wearing dresses because they wouldn't want their husbands to see them wearing black sweatsuits and have stringy hair (which was exactly what Joanna was wearing at the time). Joanna befriends Bobbie (Bette Midler) and Roger (Roger Bart), the only other two women who are not in the "Stepford" mold. A note about Roger: Roger is a gay man, but because he fits the stereotype so well of what a gay man is, he counts in Stepford as "one of the girls". Together, the three of them try to find out what is going on in Stepford and why the women are all so strange (and why one of them seemed to spark at the ears during a dance). Why are all the women such male fantasies and the men remain their geeky selves?

This 2004 adaptation of "The Stepford Wives" is more of a comedy than the horror leanings that the original is said to have had (I admit, I have not seen the original film, nor have I read the book). Since I cannot compare the film to either the novel or the original film, I can only work with what I am given on screen. The first half of the movie is fairly effective and interesting as the world of Stepford is being set up. The problem lies in the fact that the second half of the movie may or may not have contradicted information given in the first half. Something is going on with the women in Stepford, that is clear. The question is: What is going on with the women in Stepford. The term "Stepford Wives" is such a part of the Americal cultural lexicon that many people have an idea of what a Stepford Wife is, but the film never quite makes the connection. It sets up one idea, then gives us another idea, but in the end the film does not answer the question as to what exactly a Stepford Wife is. I am trying not to give away a spoiler, though the film's trailer gives away much of the twist of the movie, so the most I can say is that "The Stepford Wives" as a film does not seem to know exactly what a Stepford Wife is at the most technical level.

It is my confusion with what the premise of the film ultimately is (and thus what the ending means) that is leading to my growing dissatisfaction with "The Stepford Wives" as a movie. I enjoyed my time in the theatre watching this movie, and it is pleasant enough, but the inconsistency of the plot is enough to knock the film down a couple of notches.

-Joe Sherry

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