Go See "The Wife"
Saturday, August 18, 2018 at 10:43AM by Nathaniel R
TFE's Blurb Whore triumphs are few and far between -- we don't seek them out and Rolling Stone we are not -- so I was surprised and delighted to see my quote on the poster for The Wife in the top right under her above her eye. The quote is from our TIFF review last fall
She's spectacular. Put simply, it's the best work Close has done in over 20 years.
Sadly I've been unable to find this particular poster online, but for snapshots from screenings that people have drawn my attention to...
The Guardia's "....unmissable..." quote lift on this UK poster below could mean anything since it's out of context but we assume they're talking about Glenn Close's awesome performance which could well win her the Oscar in February.
That is if the film catches on to any degree. So support a great actress still waiting on her Oscar and get out to see this one. It's now playing in extremely limited release in NYC (at The Paris and Angelika) and Los Angeles (at the Arclight and The Landmark) and should expand to further cities soon.
As you'll recall we approve of this early bird release date; the film is too unflashy to be noticed during the loud December glut at year's end. Better to dig in Best Actress nominee traction for Close right now. Now that I've seen all the reviews besides my own (it seemed like I was the only person who saw it at TIFF last year), I feel confident in saying this: If she's nominated, she'll win.
Reader Comments (38)
I hope you will be part of their FYC ad also! Go Glenn Close and Nathaniel!
Congratulations, Nathaniel, for having your insightful review up there with the others. Although many of us know in this site that your reviews are reflective and thoughtful, at least many more cinephiles will be made aware of this. Well done!
I hope you're right that Glenn Close finally will win the Oscar in next year's ceremony. Although constantly lauded as one of the best thespians of any gender, the win will probably make other acting vehicles more available to her (I don't know, maybe Fosca, Mother Courage, Anita O'Day, Maupassant's La Mère Sauvage or some role not tied to a literary work or actual person). When I saw The Wife a few days ago for a special screening, I thought Close's wordless scenes were easily the most effective. Like what Roland Barthes once said of Garbo, Close's "two tremulous wounds" convey so much even without showing much. But the film's not flashy at all -- maybe if Close wins some precursor awards, that will be when her performance enters the orbit of critics and Academy members. I have been rooting for her for so long I'll believe it when she finally goes onstage to claim her Oscar. To a standing ovation. Redemption for both Close and Joan Castleman (and the Marquise, Alex Forest and Jenny Fields).
CAMPAIGN FOR HER! LIKE LITERALLY EVERYONE SHOULD TWEET ABOUT GLENN CLOSE!!!
She either becomes Geraldine Page or ends up like Burton & O'Toole.
Congratulations Nathaniel, your review was simply spot on, you deserve it!!!
I hope this year will finally be her moment. The reviews are stellar, I think no one could step in her way if the movie finds an audience.
Anyway... I need that poster in my room right now.
Congratulations Nathaniel! I'm all aboard the Glenn Close Oscar train.
Congrats, Nat! So proud!
" I''ll believe it when she finally goes onstage to claim her Oscar. To a standing ovation. Redemption for both Close and Joan Castleman (and the Marquise, Alex Forest and Jenny Fields)."
The best words of this saturday goes to... @Owl ;)
I THINK THE SAME!! I WANT HER WITH THE OSCAR ON HER HANDS NEXT FEBRUARY!
You are right about her wordless scenes, @owl. There is one in Dangerous Liaisons that I rank as one of the best acting moments in the history of the cinema.
Glenn is starring in an off-Broadway play from September to December. Not sure if this will help or hurt campaigning, publicity, and visibility.
Congratulations!
It's been 30 years since "Dangerous Liasons" and 31 for "Fatal Attraction" so she's not just overdue, she's over over over overdue!!!
Your site has been a sanctuary for me the last 15+ years, Nathaniel, and I will be checking it out even more frequently than usual during what I hope is a procession to Glenn’s overdue Oscar.
Her internal work in THE WIFE is so specific, so entrancing. I feel as if she helped me arrive at an important life decision last night in my personal limits in love. I attended an ArcLight screening where her daughter, Annie Clarke, was interviewed and fielded questions. I so hope to see Glenn herself in Los Angeles on the promotional trail, but she seems to have made peace with being Oscarless years ago, and she’s far too dignified to campaign excessively. I am confident we will not see a better leading performance this year, and I have a parasocial investment (and much anxiety) in regards to seeing her win.
Thanks again for your passion and hard work!
Congrats on the quote! Saw it last night and Close is incredible. She would be a very deserving Actress winner.
She's spectacular. Put simply, it's the best work Close has done in over 20 years (in a movie).
Is she playing a man again? Good for her. I'll take it from here.
1/7: Glenn Close
I don't want to get my hopes to high but as the ultimate Glenn fan it would be the greatest win EVER!!!!!!!
I honestly never thought we would see the day, but if anything, the lack of any real competition makes me think Close could Still Alice her way through all the precursors right up to the Oscar.
Who, if anyone, do you think may get in the way?
Is there anyway Amy could go Lead for Backseat?
@Jon -- thanks a lot! And I'm the same way too. I try not to get too invested in this popularity contest with the Academy, but Close seems unbeatable: very strong performance but with a different economies of scale in terms of restraint and an avoidance of showboating. I hope she wins although someone might come left of center sometime this fall and become the one to beat. If Close wins, I will make believe Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Pfeiffer and Annette Bening will win someday too.
@Marcos -- That wordless scene was also the last scene in Dangerous Liaisons where she was removing her makeup after the disastrous incident at the opera made her realise she will be a social pariah. Writer Christopher Hampton said that the last scene was supposed to be just a line taken from the novel that says something like the Marquise's soul is written on her face. But Close said that she can act it so both Frears and Hampton allowed her to carve that memorable scene and elevate that to the canon of masterpiece acting.
@Charles O -- I read an interview with Close where she said that she's rather glad to be doing an Off-Broadway show this fall called Mother of the Maid (written by Jane Anderson -- the screenplay writer of The Wife), because she has a perfect excuse not to appear in a lot of press interviews and screenings and other campaign events during that period. She said she is not a social person and would rather work than attend these events. So yeah minimal campaigning on her part. It will be up to SPC to campaign for her.
@forever1267 -- Agree 100%! Way way overdue. I thought she got really close to getting the Oscar for Dangerous Liaisons, Fatal Attraction and The World According to Garp. I thought she was excellent and should have been nominated in Reversal of Fortune and for her beautiful delineation of Férula Trueba in the much maligned The House of the Spirits. But it must have been a strong year for supporting actresses when those movies came out.
@stjeans -- me too!
@Owl--I can't even think this might happen
The reviews have been great and it is about time Glenn won a much deserved Oscar. This should be her 7th nomination and SHOULD be her Oscar. She should be up against first time nominees Emily Blunt and Lady Gaga and possibly Emma Thompson (Children Act), Carey Mulligan (Wildlife) and Viola Davis (Widows).
I can certainly see Davis coming back for a victory lap,Blunt to me seems assured,It will be a HUGE hit too,I am not predicting GaGa yet cos of 96's Madonna/Courtney Love snubs unless she is undeniable like a Hudson,Mulligan will need to fight for it,Kidman in Destroyer is certainly peaking my interest and early test screenings indicate she powerful,Swank got good notices but Oscar is over her witness The Homesman and Conviction snubs.Thompson is a no I think.
Congrats Nat! Oh yeah, I sure hope Close wins next year.
Blunt and Gaga aren't happening.
I understand the business of a platform release. But living in the South, I friggin' HATE that I've got four theaters in town, all with room for multiple screenings of The Meg and The Spy Who Dumped Me, but didn't get to see Whitney or Sorry to Bother You and I'm willing to bet The Wife won't be playing here, either. It's maddening.
I think she really has a great chance at Oscar glory with this... they've started the campaign and released the movie at the right time, I think. It is early enough that I see a later release beginning a counter-campaign for Best Actress. But as long as the competition is as thin as it seems to be at this moment, it could very well be a Still Alice situation and she'll finally be an Oscar winner.
At this point, I definitely see her getting nominated.
I feel like after Julianne Moore’s Oscar win, the overdue actresses will start getting their due with the right role. Who’s left after Close? I can see Sigourney winning in supporting, if she’s ever given another role with any substance or the right film. Pfeiffer accrued her nominations quickly as a beautiful star, then didn’t do much “Oscary” afterward, except White Oleander mainly. Worked much less after that. Her overdue doesn’t quite hit as strong, but recent work and praise will lift it soon. Bening is a strange case lately, getting the Tom Hanks deserving nomination streak of work snubs, albeit without his past wins. Like another Hanks nomination, A Bening win is inevitable. Like my confidence of a Moore win all the years y’all were panicking, it shall come to pass.
There are a lot of deserving people in the ranks of aging actors, male and female. The only two non-winners to me, whose lack of an Oscar actually HURTS, are Close and Pfeiffer. Oh, and Max Von Sydow should have an honorary Oscar by now. It hurts that he doesn't have that. He's at the age where it's in the next couple years or or probably never.
Saw it over the weekend. I want to see her win as much as anyone, but I don't think it's a slam-dunk for an Oscar victory, but yes for a nomination.
She should have won for Fatal Attraction , She should have won for Dangerous LIaisons . She should and will win for The Wife. I've been wanting her to win an Academy Award ever since i was 12 years old and i'm now 42! Please God , make it happen! Go Glenn, GO!!!! WE ALL LOVE YOU
@KBJr, i don't know how far you are from a major town/city in the South, but people have been known to drive 3-4 hours to see a film if necessary. I live in Houston, which you would think would mean I get to see everything, but when films open in limited release (NY, LA, SF) , we sometimes have to wait for weeks or months for them to open here. We only have one true "art house" which just speaks to how mainstream films garner all the support.
I just saw this last night and woooow. So rich, acute and surprisingly surprising in its telling. I'm a writer, so it's something for me to say this movie made a blank page feel like relief. So far this and "Disobedience" are neck and neck for my favorite of the year so far.
Glad I bought a ticket. Glad I saw Glenn doing what she does best for the last 20 minutes of the film.
That said, woof. That movie has problems. The first hour feels too coy dealing with its own subject matter…not in a "building tension" way, but in a limp, mundane way. The flashback scenes flat-out fail, as does the son character. It's not an attractive movie to look at and the music grates.
You also get two "literary" characters who couldn't seem less interested in language? Glenn's performance is hundreds of times better than the material she had to work with.
Best work of her career it is *certainly* not and anyone who says so is lying to you.
By the way, Nat—I wasn't accusing you of lying (it is her best film work in 20 years) but other reviewers have actually called it her greatest screen performance.
I saw it yesterday. Glenn is terrific. Definitely her best film work in 20 years (or maybe 30 years?). She should be getting better roles. Sometimes I forget how much I like an actress until I see them on-screen again, and that happened here.
That said, I agree with Hayden about the film. It lets Glenn down. I'm not sure it is fair to compare this with Still Alice, which, while not a masterpiece, was a much better film. There are a lot of improbable moments in the script, and the ending gives the story an easy out.
Also, FWIW, my mom, who is a stickler for midcentury period detail, was bothered by the costumes in the 1950s scenes - she said college girls did not dress up that much for class in that era. Sometimes they even wore - horrors! - wool pants to class!
Saw it last night. Surprised how much I loved the story and Close. Would be happy if she won the Oscar and Gaga wins song (I haven't seen Gaga yet though).
Gaga will most likely step up with the upset win.