Based on its reputation, you’d think that Frank Oz’s remake of The Stepford Wives is a major disappointment. You’d be wrong. The movie appears to be a satire on chauvinistic men, but it’s actually a quite clever satire on the original movie, popular ideas about feminism, and many of the flaws and logical contradictions in such things.
Those of you who have read my reviews on a regular basis will remember that I was not a fan of the original Stepford Wives, noting that it was directed by a man, Brian Forbes, and it in many ways seemed like a sympathetic liberal male’s idea of feminism. The movie had a sort of reverse discrimination, where every single male character appeared to be a total schlep or asshole. I suppose that the idea of the film is that all men want women to be subservient, silent sex objects, but the film was not wise enough to realize that that its argument was not true and the such beliefs hurt men almost as much as women.
Based on the trailer, Oz’s film appears to be about the same topic, but a close look reveals that the director comments on many of Forbes’ clichés and arguments. This picture opens as TV executive Joanna Eberhardt (Nicole Kidman) takes time off from her stressful job (where she is stalked by a former contestant on a reality show she produced) and moves decides to move with her husband Walter (Matthew Broderick) to the small town of Stepford, Connecticut. Of, course there are some strange things going on there, such as the fact that most of the women seem to be as dull as the average robot (I wonder why) and that the men seem to enjoy hanging out with Mike Wellington (Christopher Walken) a genuinely creepy guy.
Whereas the first movie was heavy handed in the extreme, in this picture, the lighter tone allows it to get many of its points in without it seemingly the cinematic equivalent of eating asparagus. The heart of the film is a genuinely effective and moving relationship between Joanna and Walter, who go through many of the problems of a real married couple. The film is in many ways about their choices, which are thought provoking.
I also haven’t yet pointed out that the movie is also quite funny. Although Broderick has had his experience with light comedy, you don’t genuinely think of Kidman as an experience comedienne, but she is perfect in her role and carries the picture easily.
The down side to the film is that there are some awkward tonal shifts at times, and some of the plot points, particularly in the middle of the film, seem to come out of nowhere, implying that there were editing problems or hasty reshoots. But The Stepford Wives is smarter and funnier than 90% of the movie comedies out there, and if you’ve seen the original, very wise as well.