The Rich Man's Wife

source: The Rich Man's Wife

An early movie by three lead actors who would go on to super-stardom, well Peter Green is not a superstar but makes a super villain. This is a slightly above average movie pastime that is not bad, but is bogged down by some genre conventions that are, well, conventional. The twist ending was completely unnecessary and for that indulgence it can be faulted. The supporting cast is good and the cinematography is excellent. There is one scene that stands out (in the park) for all those movie fans that recognize that hitting a moving target with a handgun is not as easy as it looks in most Hollywood products. The camera loves Halle Berry and here she displays some acting chops that would prove that she was not just another (very) pretty girl. So this is an average to slightly above average Neo-Noir that can be enjoyed for the best of it.

Amy Holden Jones writes and directs this tense drama about a beautiful woman(Halle Berry)who feels her wealthy husband(Christopher McDonald) is not spending enough time with her. She makes a mistake telling her marital woes to a stranger who decides to help her out by killing her husband. She of course becomes the prime suspect and ends up dealing with a double cross times two. Her husband left a strong prenup in his favor and did not leave a will. The finale offers one hell of a twist. Rounding out the cast are:Clive Owen, Peter Greene, Frankie Faison and Clea Lewis. At times this thriller drags a bit; but I did not watch this for the story. I watched this for the sensual Halle Berry.

This is a perfect example of bad writing. Yes . . . Halle Berry is beautiful, but that doesn't up for mediocre acting and an overall weak movie. I saw this piece of crap on cable and the guide gave it *1/2 (out of 4*). They were being generous! I give it 2* (out of 10*)

Halle Berry's beauty is ALMOST reason enough to sit through any film, and here she's surrounded by a good supporting cast. But this glossy thriller (great cinematography by Haskell Wexler) spins a familiar tale, and in the end turns out to be a blatant rip-off of "The Usual Suspects" (even using pretty much the same closing shot). The trick that "Suspects" pulled on the audience was quite unique, and this picture came out too soon afterwards not to be accused of plagiarism. (**)

Watch closely to the first 40 minutes. Chris McDonald (always portrayed as the nemesis of good people everywhere, and does a good job of it) is assumed to be a total jerk. Not so, he's got a cliché drinking problem, he's a workaholic, and is having an affair, reciprocated by his wife. And this makes him evil? Watch her closely! Little naive, working class GOLD-DIGGER! The best part of the those first 40 minutes is the waitress's reaction to her bs when she's "confiding" with the bad boy. Who wrote this crap? It's like a romance novel with an IQ of 27, give or take 26. Don't even bother unless you have some very, very delicate (don't hurt her feelings) axe (arse) to grind. See ya.

This movie is very stupid. Jumps back and forth too much. The plot lacks any interest at all. You get the feeling that she is telling the story, but there are scenes that she is not in, so how can she tell us what is going on in scenes where she isn't present. This is very sorry film making. *

SPOILERS THROUGHOUT POST: Rich Man's Wife, starring Halle Berry, has one major flaw that I saw and that is to take out all the things that make psychological thrillers great and put in all the things that make them problematic. As such, this movie let me down many times throughout. As thrillers go, this one actually starts OK. In fact the cinematography is great and the story is at first interesting. But the movie goes nowhere. Everything that's bad in psychological thrillers appears(car chases, chases on foot, ominous music, violence, characters who just seem like caricatures, plot holes that are absolutely unexplainable, and much much more). It's all here in The Rich Man's wife. The Movie does not leave any of these things out. Throw in characters who seem to make bad decision upon bad decision solely for the purpose of making a movie and one has The Rich Man's wife. Now I'm not sure if it's the writer to fault-because most of the bad things seem like standard stuff thrown into lots of bad movies. What's frustrating about this one though, is that it starts halfway interesting. I'll admit it doesn't stay that way for long but still.. I will also say I am not quite sure this wasn't meant to be a parody. There are just to many things that don't make sense in any other context but parody. For example, how each and EVERY character seems to be a caricature. We get the raging psychopath (played quite well actually by Peter Greene.) The cops who seem to be in another world altogether, the hysterical put upon heiress(Berry who is never quite convincing here) and a few more . This movie had me rolling my eyes in quite a short period of time, such as when Cole chases Josie into her cabin and she, screaming and shrieking as she runs for her life, then proceeds to leaves the door open for Cole to follow her into the cabin. The Rich Man's wife had a great cast but doesn't seem to care if the audience buys any of what is happening on screen. If it's purpose is just to entertain fine but to do that more effectively, it should have dropped some of the clichés and melodrama. If I find out this was meant to be a comedy I will change my vote from 3 to 6 or maybe even 7. But as of right now, my vote stands at three. The main positives were the fact it really didn't bore all that much, AND Clea Lewis as the bitter ex wife of Josie's lover. She was so funny! What a great performance. It's almost worth it to see the movie just for her. Rich Man's wife also almost crosses into that "so bad it's good" category. But it doesn't quite make it. It had to much potential to go in to many really interesting directions. Some of the characters' dialog were as over the top as the plot twists. Also, Halle's hysteria got a bit tiresome after awhile, though she's a great actress I am a bit tired of her always playing roles where she's hysterical. All the scenes of Josie running for her life-oh man, I think I started to lose count. And I will agree with so many others-the "twist" is completely over the top, a complete rip off from Usual suspects and, rather then thinking "Clever movie" at the end, as with suspects, one just feels a bit ripped off. The "twist" changes the meaning of virtually everything and makes every scene in the movie meaningless, one has no idea what the real story is and it's completely unnecessary because that twist, as with many other, (actually most) things in the movie, is just one more letdown. (I also think this movie had a bit of "Mortal Thoughts" in it as well as Suspects.) So while I wasn't bored, loved the cast, and thought the premise had potential I am giving this a 3. But I am still not convinced this wasn't, at least in part a parody.Anyway, not the worst but could have been better.

just saw this movie today. Caught my attention due mainly to the supreme creepiness of the actor who played Cole. However, it never ceases to amaze me when continuity directors completely miss the boat when it comes to the number of shots being fired in any given scene. The little pistol in this flick holds a 6 round clip yet time after time they where pumping away like there was an endless supply of bullets. OK, I might have OCD, but I usually count the shots fired in a pick just to see how serious the filmmakers are about making things realistic. Obviously, they were far too consumed with making the villain a first class creep-they did an excellent job but missed the target with the shoot-em-ups

Sad to say but even someone as fantastic as Clive Owen can make a career mistake. This is one of his rare bad movies, but as someone once said, sometimes you just have to make a living too. Story is older than mold. Rich man has unhappy wife. Unhappy wife is a dope and confides in a total stranger that she has fantasies about her husbands demise. Before you can say PREDICTABLE!, stranger decides her fantasies should become reality. But wait, its all a set-up. Can't tell you more than that, but there is more than one twist, none of them particularly original or well thought-out. I really like Clive and I like Peter Greene too. Christopher McDonald I liked from such classics as "Requiem for a Dream" and "Quiz Show" but his character here is sketchy, at best. Oh yeah, Halle Berry is in it too, and SURPRISE SURPRISE, she cries. 4/10.