The Wife
Scoring a Golden Globe for her performance, Glenn Close decides to leave her husband (Jonathan Pryce) while travelling in Europe in this drama based on Meg Wolitzer's novel.
After spending forty years sacrificing her dreams to fan the flames of her charismatic husband Joe (Pryce) and his literary career, fed-up wife Joan (Close) decides to end their relationship on the eve of Joe's Nobel Prize win.
- Director:
- Björn Runge ('Daybreak', 'Mouth to Mouth', 'Happy End')
- Writer:
- Jane Anderson
- Cast:
- Glenn CloseJonathan PryceChristian SlaterAnnie StarkeMax IronsElizabeth McGovernHarry Lloyd
Reviews & comments
Flicks, Katie Parker
flicksBased on Meg Woltizer’s 2003 novel of the same name, The Wife follows Joan Castleman and her novelist husband Joe as they travel to Stockholm so that he can be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. A veritable power couple, Joan is to Joe the ultimate alpha wife and the cornerstone of their family - yet, as we flash back to their courtship when Joan was an impressionable and gifted young writing student and Joe her married English professor, it quickly becomes apparent that things between the pair (and Joe’s much lauded body of work) are not what they seem.
Flicks, Glenn Dunks
flicksGlenn Close is an island of genius amid this otherwise mediocre affair set within the upper echelons of the arts world. The actress finally gets a big screen role that allows her to dig deeper than the blockbuster cameos (Guardians of the Galaxy, Warcraft) and bland comedies (Father Figures) that have filled the last few years of her career. It’s just a shame that everything else around her is half-cooked, relying on Close’s magnetism to fill in the blanks of a screenplay that is too often messy and relies too heavily on the relevancy of its story.
Great film acting
Paul A Willis 1 min · The Wife: is an extraordinary movie about an extremely intense subject, about creativity, dedication, identity, marriage but mostly about the paradoxes of being a human being. it could have been heavy but to me it was not. I was continually surprized in each moment of watching Glen Close’s performance Price was excellent as was the...
Powerhouse performances; captivating story
Close at her absolute best! The way she embodies Joan, the seemingly composed, but unmistakably repressed wife literary star, Joe Castleton (Pryce, who also achieves a stellar performance) is captivating from the opening to closing titles. The film is also evocative of the issues and themes highlighted by the Times Up movement. However, the subtle...
Variety
press[Close] is a marvel of twisty understatement here, delivering emotions that conceal as much as they reveal, and offering onion-like layers that invite repeat viewings in light of some of the film's later revelations.
The Guardian
pressThis is an unmissable movie for Glenn Close fans. Actually, you can't watch it without being a fan.
Sydney Morning Herald
pressClose must be one of the most controlled actresses on the screen. She works incrementally, building this performance bit by bit with tight smiles and wary, knowing looks.
Screen Daily
pressThough not formally daring and fairly conventional in its storytelling, this is a quality picture which should appeal to arthouse audiences in festivals and elsewhere.
Metro Magazine
pressGlenn Close is perfectly cast. One of cinema’s great Sphinxes, she glides smoothly through the crush of her husband’s acolytes, as the well-meant humiliations pile up.
Hollywood Reporter
pressLike a bomb ticking away toward detonation, Glenn Close commands the center of The Wife: still, formidable and impossible to look away from.
Flicks, Katie Parker
flicksBased on Meg Woltizer’s 2003 novel of the same name, The Wife follows Joan Castleman and her novelist husband Joe as they travel to Stockholm so that he can be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. A veritable power couple, Joan is to Joe the ultimate alpha wife and the cornerstone of their family - yet, as we flash back to their courtship when Joan was an impressionable and gifted young writing student and Joe her married English professor, it quickly becomes apparent that things between the pair (and Joe’s much lauded body of work) are not what they seem.
Flicks, Glenn Dunks
flicksGlenn Close is an island of genius amid this otherwise mediocre affair set within the upper echelons of the arts world. The actress finally gets a big screen role that allows her to dig deeper than the blockbuster cameos (Guardians of the Galaxy, Warcraft) and bland comedies (Father Figures) that have filled the last few years of her career. It’s just a shame that everything else around her is half-cooked, relying on Close’s magnetism to fill in the blanks of a screenplay that is too often messy and relies too heavily on the relevancy of its story.
Variety
press[Close] is a marvel of twisty understatement here, delivering emotions that conceal as much as they reveal, and offering onion-like layers that invite repeat viewings in light of some of the film's later revelations.
The Guardian
pressThis is an unmissable movie for Glenn Close fans. Actually, you can't watch it without being a fan.
Sydney Morning Herald
pressClose must be one of the most controlled actresses on the screen. She works incrementally, building this performance bit by bit with tight smiles and wary, knowing looks.
Screen Daily
pressThough not formally daring and fairly conventional in its storytelling, this is a quality picture which should appeal to arthouse audiences in festivals and elsewhere.
Metro Magazine
pressGlenn Close is perfectly cast. One of cinema’s great Sphinxes, she glides smoothly through the crush of her husband’s acolytes, as the well-meant humiliations pile up.
Hollywood Reporter
pressLike a bomb ticking away toward detonation, Glenn Close commands the center of The Wife: still, formidable and impossible to look away from.
Great film acting
Paul A Willis 1 min · The Wife: is an extraordinary movie about an extremely intense subject, about creativity, dedication, identity, marriage but mostly about the paradoxes of being a human being. it could have been heavy but to me it was not. I was continually surprized in each moment of watching Glen Close’s performance Price was excellent as was the...
Powerhouse performances; captivating story
Close at her absolute best! The way she embodies Joan, the seemingly composed, but unmistakably repressed wife literary star, Joe Castleton (Pryce, who also achieves a stellar performance) is captivating from the opening to closing titles. The film is also evocative of the issues and themes highlighted by the Times Up movement. However, the subtle...
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