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| While the 1975 film made its feminist agenda clear, this version takes a more balanced approach to the gender wars. The script is updated to reflect women’s advances in society, as well as the current devaluing of the role of men in the workplace and at home. The horrific, man-dominated world of the previous Stepford has now crumbled. |
(2004) Film Review by Michael Ray |
| This
page was created on June 12, 2004
This page was last updated on
December 9, 2004
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| CREDITS |
|  Directed by Frank Oz
Book by Ira Levin (book)
Screenplay by Paul Rudnick
Cast (in credits order)
Nicole Kidman .... Joanna Eberhart
Bette Midler .... Bobbi Markowitz
Matthew Broderick .... Walter Kresby
Christopher Walken .... Mike Wellington
Faith Hill .... Sarah Sunderson
Glenn Close .... Claire Wellington
Roger Bart .... Roger Bannister
Jon Lovitz .... Dave Markowitz
Lorri Bagley .... Charmaine Van Sant
Produced by
Ronald M. Bozman .... executive producer
Leslie J. Converse .... associate producer
Donald De Line .... producer
Gabriel Grunfeld .... producer
Scott Rudin .... producer
Edgar J. Scherick .... producer
Keri Selig .... executive producer
Original Music by David Arnold, Dana Glover and David Mansfield for additional music.
Cinematography by Rob Hahn
Film Editing by Jay Rabinowitz
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sexual content, thematic material and language.
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM, and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG |
| TRAILERS AND CLIPS |
| —Trailers, Photos |
| BOOK |
The Stepford Wives
by Ira Levin
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| POSTER |
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| AVAILABILITY ON VIDEO AND DVD |
The Stepford Wives (1975)
Here
Ira Levin's scary novel about forced conformity in a small Connecticut town made for this compelling 1975 thriller. Katharine Ross stars as a city woman who moves with her husband to Stepford and is startled by how perpetually happy many of the local women seem to be. Her search for an answer reveals a plot to replace troublesome real wives with more accommodating fake ones (not unlike the alien takeover in Invasion of the Body Snatchers). The closer she gets to the truth,
the more danger she faces--not to mention the likelihood that the men in town intend to replace her as well. Screenwriter William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) and director Bryan Forbes (King Rat) made this a taut, tense semiclassic with a healthy dose of satiric wit. --Tom Keogh |
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| SYNOPSIS |
 Joanna Eberhart (Nicole Kidman) thinks she’s made it to the top of her world.
The youngest president in the history of the LBS television network, she also has an attentive husband and two beautiful children. On the surface, Joanna’s life appears to be, well, perfect... until one catastrophic day when it all comes crashing down around her. Fired from her job, her perfect marriage in trouble, unable to remember where her kids go to school, Joanna is starting to look like a candidate for electroshock
therapy.
Yes, there’s nothing like a nervous breakdown to make Joanna and her husband Walter (Matthew Broderick) reexamine their priorities, pack up the family and make a fresh start in the idyllic suburban paradise of Stepford, Connecticut.
But something strange is happening in the quaint little town of Stepford, and Joanna is suspicious. So is Bobbie Markowitz (Bette Midler), who recently moved to town with her irascible frat-boyish husband Dave (Jon Lovitz). And Roger Bannister (Roger Bart), an architect who came to Stepford hoping to save his rocky relationship with his conservative partner Jerry (David Marshall Grant), is wondering what’s going on, too.
It’s the wives. They’re all like Claire Wellington (Glenn Close) — beautiful, happy and unusually creative with crafts. They can bake a cake, paint the house, mow the lawn, play with the kids and still greet their husbands in lacy lingerie at the end of a busy day.
Disturbed by the stunning but subservient women she meets in Stepford, Joanna grows increasingly uneasy. On the other hand, Walter couldn’t be happier. He’s especially impressed by the Stepford Men’s Association, a fortress-like mansion in the center of town.
"This town, and the houses, and this place —it’s like a dream.” enthuses Walter. "Like the way life should be.”
Until Joanna Eberhart gets in the way.
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 Review by Michael Ray
Email: dramaman23@yahoo.com
Web site: Beyond Film
Mike is a film reviewer with a background in community theatre directing and acting. He is working on his Masters degree at Denver Seminary and has a B.A. in English and a minor in Theatre from Colorado Christian University. He is a musician, preacher, artist, puppeteer, editor, and writer. |
 The new Stepford Wives is missing its teeth. It lazily falls into a bed of boredom, placing its dentures safely in a glass at the table stand. Gone is the bite of the original 1975 film, a creepy piece of work that threw
an intense anti-male message into an already volatile feminist movement. While the original is by no means a perfect film (though it is a cult “classic”), it does succeed in maintaining a frightening tone throughout, and the ending of the film is chilling and truly scary. In fact, the final 30 minutes plays more like a horror movie than anything else. It’s energized by a pro-feminist theme and layered with horrific symbols.
 But we’re not talking about the 1975 movie here. The new film is helmed by director Frank Oz, who takes the story in a different direction and dips the
“battle of the sexes” idea into a pool of dark comedy. The problem is, the movie never settles into a distinct tone. The comedy is forced (at best it might produce a chuckle), and the dark aspects aren’t dark enough. Sadly, the movie gets lost in a mess of its own cuteness, Hollywood shine, and worst of all -- it suffers from a lack of inspiration. By the time it “ends” (with a wink to its predecessor), Oz tacks on a fun, yet somewhat convoluted twist
ending. I guess we thank screenwriter Paul Rudnick for this welcome bit of brief inspiration.
 For those not familiar with the original plot, Walter and Joanna Eberhart move their family into a seemingly perfect community called Stepford. The shimmer
soon fades when the couple begins to unravel the town’s mysteries—the women of the town are not all that they appear to be. Nicole Kidman (Joanna) delivers a passable performance, and Matthew Broderick (Walter) offers up his normal quirkiness. Christopher Walken (Mike Wellington) adds his standard weirdness as the ringleader of the town’s men, and Glenn Close (Mrs. Wellington) provides some much needed energy to the cast (she looks like the only actor actually having
fun). You’ll also spot singer Faith Hill in a forgettable role as one of the town’s women (forcing me to think she should keep her day job in music).
While the 1975 film made its feminist agenda clear, this version takes a more balanced approach to the gender wars. The script is updated to reflect women’s advances in society, as well as the current devaluing of the role of men in the workplace and at home. The horrific, man-dominated world of the previous Stepford has now crumbled; in fact, Oz begins with Joanna, an executive
for a TV station, showing a preview for two male-bashing reality shows. Women aren’t the lone victims in this version. The confused and belittled men in the story retaliate out of anger and frustration because of the domination of women in their lives.
 This reflects the uneasiness of the ever-changing American mindset about gender roles. Men and women are confused about their roles and responsibilities, and both struggle to maintain
their work and family life. In fact, the movie hints that the real threat to American life is not gender domination by men or by women, but the stresses of the workplace. This stress can be fueled by an unhealthy competition between the sexes, and in the end it forces some women to long for a simpler time (Mrs. Wellington’s obsession with the 50s) or pushes others to become workaholics (Joanna).
 However,
by looking past their competitive natures, Joanna and Walter are
eventually able to achieve peace in their marriage.
They realize that true love is absent in their futile attempts
to change each other but is evident in sacrificial compromise.
The solution for our modern gender war is for both sexes to lay
aside their selfish ambitions and support one other in the home,
workplace, and church. For Christians, there is neither, “slave
nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”
(Galatians 3:28). Contextually, this Scripture refers to a spiritual
equality for both men and women in their standing before Jesus
Christ. Because of this spiritual equality, Christians should
be leaders in gender peacemaking and unity. Love means looking
beyond differences and working together instead of tearing each
other down. If we don’t strive for this, all our social
circles will begin to look frighteningly like the strange town
of Stepford.
—Michael
Ray's Blog
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