In the William Goldman-scripted, Bryan Forbes-directed adaptation of Ira Levin's savagely satiric sci-fi novel The Stepford Wives, housewife Joanna (Katharine Ross) moves with husband Walter (Peter Masterson) and their children to the "ideal" suburban community of Stepford, CT. Slowly, Joanna deduces that something is amiss; most of the other housewives are vapid creatures who speak in trivialities and live only to please their husbands. Together with new friend Bobby (Paula Prentiss), she
investigates this curious status quo. When Bobby also succumbs to cloying sweetness, Joanna discovers that Stepford's husbands have conspired with male chauvinist scientists to replace all the wives with computerized android duplicates. The Stepford Wives became a massive, runaway hit, earning four million dollars domestically. Mega-producer Scott Rudin and director Frank Oz teamed up for a remake in 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Overlong and underdeveloped, this flimsy Bryan Forbes horror story (1975) would probably have made a decent television movie; but on the big screen and stretched to nearly two hours, it sags badly.
The humor that remains in the movie is preesnted with such facetiousness one almost feels embarrassed to watch. You want to tell the actors to take it easy, since it's apparent that Bryan Forbes, the film's director, didn't.
I can imagine similar material being directed by, say, Woody Allen, and coming out pointed and funny. Instead, director Bryan Forbes gets all solemn and spooky and goes for obvious effects like bolts of lightning and forbidding Gothic mansions.
William Goldman's leisurely script and Forbes' dull direction never quite capture the subtleties of Ira Levin's novel about an idyllic Connecticut commuter village where the housewives are a bunch of domesticated dummies.
I really like this film alot. I have not read all of the novel, but I have read enough of it to know that this adaptation is more in sync with the mood and tone of the book. It's dark, and quite disturbing. The new one is equally as entertaining, but I prefer this dark, creepy adaptation better than the satirical
2000's version. Very good film!
January 31, 2011
Jameson Worley
Super Reviewer
I loved this movie, it's a lot better than the new remake. It's creepy and kinda weird, but I loved it.
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