The Stepford Wives

After losing her job as a network TV president, a spindly Nicole Kidman suffers a nervous collapse; she heads to a Connecticut suburb to recuperate with her hubby (Matthew Broderick) and kids, but finds the housewives there too perfect and bimbolike. If this satirical SF comedy has an auteur, it’s screenwriter Paul Rudnick, whose cheerful contempt for American wholesomeness animated In & Out and Addams Family Values. Glenn Close and Bette Midler get some comic mileage out of the premise, which originated in a novel by Ira Levin (Rosemary’s Baby) but also suggests Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Unfortunately this is much tamer than it had to beRudnick Lite, meaning on the edge of evaporation. Frank Oz (In & Out) directed; with Christopher Walken and Roger Bart. PG-13, 93 min. (JR)

This entry was posted in Featured Texts. Bookmark the permalink.