You never forget your first. My first Kidman - The Stepford Wives.
Is the movie good? I will always have a soft spot for it, but it does not fully work. There are glimpses of a great movie, thanks in large part to genuine laugh-out-loud joke lines in Paul Rudnick’s script. Not many people would recommend this as a first Kidman viewing, but it perfectly illustrates one of the qualities that I think makes her one of our greatest actresses - fearless commitment to one’s character. I take that back. The introduction of Joanna Eberhart is a perfect introduction to Nicole Kidman...
Nicole’s Joanna takes the stage at the network upfronts with a fierce determination, a fire lit under her as a woman in charge. She's got a tight suit on that means business and a short, sharp bob that could cut an unsuspecting victim. It’s fitting that the happiest we see our heroine is in the film’s opening moments, unveiling the fruits of her labor - a reality show where couples are invited to cheat on one another. Nicole is perfect at selling certainty, and Joanna is certain this latest slate will be full of hits.
Within moments, she’s accosted by one of the stars of the show, Hank (Mike White!!), whose wife (lol) leaves him for another man (also, the wife is Carrie Preston!!). The movie wants to play Joanna’s callousness at Hank as a sign of her inhumanity, something to be fixed. In retrospect, what makes Kidman’s lack of empathy haunting is its plausibility, how we can be wrapped up in our own work to such a degree that we are disconnected with its impact. Hank shoots her, sending Joanna to the hospital. In a concurrent, and more devastating (to Joanna) blow, Joanna also loses her job, prompting her husband Walter (Matthew Broderick) to move the family to the Stepford suburbs.
This fabulously dark setup should continue once we reach our whitewashed setting of critique. There’s a lot of great fun to be had as Joanna befriends two other Stepford members who don’t fit the mold - the loudmouth writer, Bobbi (Bette Midler), and the swishy New York gay, Roger (Roger Bart). The three have a fun, if slightly stilted, banter - like three stray plus ones at a wedding who delight in mocking the hosts. These characters’ bonds make the film a great time. If only the movie’s target - white suburbia - was skewered with the same sharp precision as Joanna’s work as a reality TV producer from the film’s opening. The Stepford Wives are just as robotic and perfect as the 1975 models, but there’s a missed opportunity to speak to what wifely perfection looked like in 2005, rather than reheating the same jokes from before.
Who wouldn't want to be a part of this (obviously queer-coded) group of oddballs?While great fun, the movie’s second cardinal sin is not making the horror-mystery as smart, horrific or fun as the original. We spend so much time ahead of our central trio that it can feel tiresome. A movie can’t be held up by punchlines alone. As Bobbi and Roger fall victim to the clutches of Stepford, Nicole expertly moves into scream queen territory. A mix of fear and fury permeate her gaze. In actuality, Matthew Broderick wouldn’t be a match for her.
The movie goes off the rails in the third act, trying to manufacture a “happy ending” that feels false more than anything. We’re supposed to believe all hope is lost after Walter leads Joanna into the transformation chamber. Cut to - a blonde, dolled-up Stepford version of Joanna roaming the supermarket like a robot. She looks just like the version of Nicole Kidman that graces magazines and walks red carpets. There’s something tongue in cheek about a star criticizing their image, essentially saying the version of themselves Hollywood exalts is a fake “Stepford” version. At the climactic ballroom, Joanna reveals that she wasn’t turned, decapitates the Stepford Leader, Mike (Christopher Walken - who was a robot all along) and unmasks Claire (Glenn Close) as the mastermind behind Stepford. Shout out to a great freakout by Glenn Close.
There are plenty of subtextual elements that make the triumph of Joanna and the demise of Claire toothless and predictable. It sands away both the horror and satirical elements of the original. However, this final act expertly dramatizes Kidman’s journey in Hollywood. In order to win, she has to appear to be nothing more than a pretty face. Her movie star veneer hides the actress underneath, someone who knows how to weaponize (To Die For), subvert (Eyes Wide Shut) or even hide (The Hours) their beauty.
The Stepford Wives was the beginning of a fallow period for Nicole Kidman, filled with big budget misfires and smaller projects that rarely broke through. There’s something exciting though about a star who refuses to play by any rules but her own. The “Mrs. Tom Cruise” persona helped people know who Nicole Kidman was. Her work amidst the end of her marriage catapulted her to the top of the A-list. What she does with her powers is something more daring - she does what she wants, not what others want.
Previously in the Nicole Kidman TFE Tribute:
- Introductiom (1983-1989) - Early Australian films
- Billy Bathgate (1991) – her first Golden Globe nomination!
- Malice (1993) - when Kidman met Sorkin
- To Die For (1995) - her first Golden Globe win!
- The Portrait of a Lady (1996) - a Campion experiment
- Practical Magic (1998) - comfort food cinema
- Eyes Wide Shut (1999)- Kubrick. Cruise. Kidman.
- Moulin Rouge! (2001) - her first Oscar nomination!
- The Others (2001) - a foray into horror
- The Hours (2002) - the Oscar victory!
- Dogville (2003) - Lars von Trier's masterpiece
- Birth (2004) - her best performance ever?
- Chanel N°5: The Film (2004) - a glamorous miniature
The dysfunctional comedy remakes and reboots continue in the next chapter of this Nicole Kidman Tribute. We go from The Stepford Wives to Bewitched.