The Wife (2018) * * * 1/2

 

Directed by: Bjorn Runge

Starring:  Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce, Christian Slater, Max Irons, Elizabeth McGovern

We first meet the Castlemans in 1992 Connecticut, in which Joseph (Pryce) is a hailed writer who just received word he will be awarded the Nobel Prize and his wife Joan (Close) tends to his needs including keeping him on schedule, ensuring he takes his heart medication, and keeps his ego in check.   Or tries to.   The last part is the toughest.    It takes flying to Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize for the couple to recognize how fragile their relationship is.    It isn't easy for Joan to remain in the shadows of her famed husband, in more ways than one, even though she tries to put on a happy face and a faux presentation of modesty. 

The Wife is an intelligent, engrossing film about a marriage which feels more like a partnership, with Joseph getting the glory as the famed writer and Joan resenting his ego, infidelities, and vanity in the cold shadows.    The Nobel Prize is both the best and worst thing to happen to their marriage, and the events which occur test it thoroughly.    The Wife also flashes back to the late 1950's, with Joseph as a married fledgling writer/college professor and Joan as a student/fledgling writer who writes an extraordinary short story which she is compelled to keep hidden from the world.    A published author (McGovern) tells Joan of how female authors don't sell and in some cases the male-dominated publishing industry wouldn't even consider publishing her work.   So, she gives up writing and allows Joseph to gain the glory of a stellar career and settle in as wife number two. 

A nosy biographer (Slater), who longs to published Joseph's authorized biography, but nevertheless will write an unauthorized one full of potentially salacious scandal which will no doubt interest readers of Joseph's work.    Slater performs a delicate balancing act of flattery and flirtation with Joan, posing as either a potential friend or someone who can expose some of the deviousness within the family previously hidden from the public.    There is also an issue with their son David (Irons), who wants to be a writer, but finds approval from his famous father to be lacking, and finds himself as a willing listener to Slater's theories about his family.

Close and Pryce have tremendous fun as the long-married couple who have played public roles which belie their private ones.    Joan knows what makes her husband tick, and has seemingly come to terms with his history of skirt chasing.   Or has she?   And what about Joseph?   How insecure and egotistical must someone be to bask in the sunlight as he has knowing full well what it must be doing to his spouse?    Or knowing the truth?    He tries to give credit to her in his Nobel acceptance speeches, but to her, those are just more ironic twists of the screw. 

The Wife is efficiently directed by Bjorn Runge, who moves the story along and keeps us involved in this complex marriage which we know will end sadly and with truths that won't see the light of day.  The Wife is a study in the complicated issues of gender equality told within the microcosm of the Castlemans' relationship.    And we learn why the movie is called The Wife and not The Writer in ways we couldn't have possibly foreseen.