The Wife

Grade: B+

Director Bjorn Runge’s movie The Wife, based on the novel of the same name, in its efficient hour and 40 minute run time, cuts right to the chase with the exposition. It is Connecticut in 1992, in the middle of the night, when novelist Joe (Jonathan Pryce) receives a phone call from Stockholm letting him know that he will be the year’s recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature. He and his wife Joan (Glenn Close) have come a long way since they met in 1958 and their relationship was that of married English professor and student/aspiring writer. They now have two grown children and a grandchild on the way, and now off Joe and Joan go to Sweden with their son, while a slightly slimy wannabe biographer of Joe’s life (Christian Slater) tags along.

The movie occasionally goes back in time to 1958-1968 to fill in some backstory blanks for us, but too conveniently waits to let us know certain details when the movie wants us to know. About halfway through, a pretty monumental twist is revealed. It is problematic because little to no dialogue even hints at it, even when the only individuals privy to it are alone together. But then suddenly, bam! We have the rug yanked out from under us, and it plays more like a movie convention that seems to exist just to fool the audience. Also, when two huge arguments between the leads each get interrupted by an abrupt new development at the most perfect times, those felt too cleanly constructed.

Minor quibbles. This is a pressure-cooker of a film, and I was absorbed and engaged. It was nice to see Pryce and Slater again, both invaluable actors. Best Actress nominee Glenn Close does compelling work as the title character, but really, it would not be the performance that it is without Pryce, and vice versa. They need each other. They fuel each other. You’ll know more of what I mean if you’ve seen, or will see The Wife.

Grade: B+