The Wife

From the outside, Joe Castleman and his wife of 40 years, Joan, have a textbook marriage. Joe is a literary lion, who has just been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Joan is his self-effacing helpmeet, basking in the great man's reflected glory.

stuffy and stagey

The film around her may be a tepid melodrama that doesn't seem to know what to do with its subject (or with her as an actress), but Close is extraordinary.

The film is most effective when it allows the couple at its centre to simply play off each other.

What stands out in The Wife is how easily society downplays womens' talents, stifles their creative voices, and nudges them into subservient roles.

As competently handled as Bjorn Runge's The Wife is, the film ultimately succeeds off the back of Glenn Close's central performance, with the actress delivering one of the finest of her career.

The Wife is a tour-de-force showcase for the considerable talents of one woman, Glenn Close, a performance that could win her that long-deserved Oscar.

The Wife is one well-executed example of the proverbial woman behind the man, and what it cost her to stay put.

The Wife has brilliant, memorable scenes, but its Glenn Close who carries the weight of the movie on her shoulders with ease.

A good story, interesting characters, and a great cast can't quite make up for the leaden and obvious filmmaking.