The Wife (2018)

[Mark Booth]

Title: The Wife

Tagline: Secrets lie between the lines

Genre: Drama

Director: Björn Runge

Cast: Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce, Christian Slater, Max Irons, Annie Starke, Harry Lloyd, Elizabeth McGovern, Alix Wilton Regan, Karin Franz Körlof, Michael Benz, Twinnie Lee Moore, Carolin Stoltz, Catharina Christie, Jane Garioni

Release: 2018-08-17

Runtime: 100

Plot: A wife questions her life choices as she travels to Stockholm with her husband, where he is slated to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

 

[Mark Booth]

I am surprised there isn't already a topic for this film. (If I missed it in my search, please move this message to that topic.)

We saw 'The Wife' today, a wonderful indie film with a SUPERLATIVE performance by Glenn Close. She plays the wife of a novelist who has just learned he is going to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. She grows increasingly annoyed with the attention being lavished on her husband and Close's performance is absolutely amazing. We can see it in her face as the many emotions churn inside her. She achieves more effective acting with just facial expressions than many actors can achieve with words.

The Booth Bijou gives 'The Wife' 5 out of 5 stars. Close will surely be nominated for Best Actress.

Mark

 

[Jake Lipson]

If you haven't already seen the film and can avoid it, do yourself a favor and don't watch the trailer. Just go see it if you can still find it near you (it' s already begun to decline its screen count.)

Somehow I managed not to see it ahead of any other films and just went because of Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce, and then I looked up the trailer when I got home, and I was so glad I had missed it since it is basically a shrunken two-minute version of the movie. It gives away way more than I would want to know going into the film.

That being said, I agree completely with Mark's assessment of the film, and I would add that Jonathan Pryce is a powerful scene partner to Close as well. This is really a terrific movie both for the performances and the story itself and how carefully it is constructed. It deserves to be getting Oscar buzz for more than just Close's performance, which is certainly the wonderful central element, but I think the totality of the film is worth recognition too.

 

[Jake Lipson]

This is re-expanding in theaters this weekend in an awards push for Glenn Close. If you missed it on its first release, go now. It's great.