THE STEPFORD WIVES

"Welcome to Stepford"

TV executive Joanna Eberhard (Kidman) suffers a nervous breakdown after been fired by the network when one of her Reality TV shows goes disastrously wrong. On medical advice her husband Walter (Broderick) moves the family out of New York to the small Connecticut town of Stepford. This idyllic, peaceful community is filled with enormously successful men and their beautiful, perfect wives. As the husbands retire to their Men's Association, Joanna and fellow Stepford newcomers Bobbie (Midler) and Roger (Bart) join the women at the spa but suspicions soon arise as each of the wives is just far too perfect to be true.

Would you want the woman in your life to be at your beck and call, to pander to your every need and make you feel amazing in the bedroom?Well you need a Stepford Wife.

Based on the best selling novel and a remake of the classic 1975 movie by Bryan Forbes, this version forgoes the horror and fright aspects of the original material on which it is based, choosing a more comedic approach and for the most part it works quite well. The Stepford Wives is a satire that pictures modern, career driven women as heartless, self-serving beasts that need to be sent back to the 50s. This of course, is the wishful thinking of small, domineered men who want to regain control of their households and have found an ingenious way of doing this in Stepford. This is where the film differs from the original, where the wives where replaced with robots, in this very modern version, nano-chips control the behaviour of them turning them into remote controlled servants. Well this is what you are led to believe as during the scene where Walter finds out that the wives have been replaced, the example is most definitely a robot. Quite confusing.

Plot inconsistencies aside, it is the very strong ensemble cast that makes this picture very enjoyable. Nicole Kidman plays the only slightly straight role of the piece and in Joanna Eberhard she portrays unlikeable persona, at first anyway. She is a career-oriented woman who has forsaken her role as a wife and mother for the pursuit of power, fame and respect in an industry of backstabbers. This is a character that you are not supposed to like, increasing your understanding of why Walter would like her replaced. Matthew Broderick plays the down-beaten Walter very well. When he moves to Stepford he suddenly gains the respect and belonging he has always pandered after. This is Broderick back to his best, playing a likeable character that you can easily sympathise with.

Glen Close, Bette Milder, Christopher Walken and Roger Bart support the two leads excellently. Glen Close is at her most kooky as Claire Wellington, the wives' community leader. This is a woman stuck in the 1950s and the epitome of the Stepford ideal. Christopher Walken's Mike Wellington is the instigator of that ideal and the driving force behind the Stepford revolution. This is another master class from the excellent character actor. Bette Milder and Roger Bart provide many of the laughs as Bobbie and Roger. Novelist Bobbie is the new, empowered woman who refuses to conform to her husband's ideals. She writes books about her mother entitled "I Love You but Please Die" and continually rips into Claire and her Stepford ways. Roger is the PC element of the film as the more effeminate side of a gay relationship. He provides all of the fashion and girly quips that have become so stereotypical of a character like this but they are funny.

Remakes are never usually as good as the original and this is again the case here. The darkness and tragedy have gone and been replaced by laughs but the message is still the same. Do you want to be married to someone who does everything you want and do you want someone to love you for what you are, flaws and all? While the ending does feel a little rushed after the big finale, there is still a lot to enjoy here and enough to get you thinking the question, what if you could trade in your partner for a better model.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, this is a good transfer. The picture is crystal clear throughout, bringing the bright colours of Stepford to life. The sound is also good, with a strong emphasis on dialogue, as you'd want with a comedy.

BONUS FEATURES

Commentary by Director Frank Oz
This is an insightful and informative track from Frank Oz, as the director discusses most aspects of the movie's production. He reveals the many chances in the plot and scenes throughout the commentary, telling you when scenes where cut, rewritten and changed. Casting, locations, sets and the plot are also discussed as the director talks extensively about the filmmaking process he goes through with his movies. This is a good commentary from a director who clearly knows what he is doing.

A Perfect World: The Making of the Stepford Wives (19.47 mins)
Director Frank OZ, screenwriter Paul Rudnick, director of photography Rob Hahn, production designer Jackson DeGovia and stars Matthew Broderick, Glen Close, Christopher Walken, Bette Midler, Jon Lovitz, Roger Bart and Faith Hill talk about bringing Stepford into the 21st Century. The featurette takes you through the designing, building, costume designing processes utilised on the production and locations used to bring Stepford to the sliver screen. We also go behind the scenes of Garden, Ballroom, Men Association, Book Club and Midsummer Night Ball sets.

Stepford: A Definition (3.53 mins)
Director Frank OZ, screenwriter Paul Rudnick and stars Nicole Kidman, Glen Close, Christopher Walken, Bette Midler, Jon Lovitz, Roger Bart and Faith Hill talk about the impact of the Stepford Wives on society and how it became a notion to describe what men wanted in a woman.

Stepford: The Architects (6.01 mins)
Director Frank OZ, screenwriter Paul Rudnick and stars Nicole Kidman, Glen Close and David Marshall Grant talk about bringing the story into the 21st Century. Rudnick reveals why he decided to inject comedy into the piece and how he tried to make it relevant for today's audience.

The Stepford Wives (10.07 mins)
Director Frank OZ, screenwriter Paul Rudnick and stars Nicole Kidman, Glen Close, David Marshall Grant, Roger Bart, Bette Midler and Faith Hill talk about the Wives of Stepford, Joanna, Bobbie, Claire, Sarah and Roger.

The Stepford Husbands (8.05 mins)
Stars Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Glen Close, David Marshall Grant, Roger Bart, Bette Midler, Jon Lovitz, Matt Molloy and Christopher Walken discuss the men of Stepford, Walter, Dave, Mike, Herb and Jerry.

Stepford: Deleted and Extended Scenes (9.55 mins)
Entitled "Square Dance", "Husbands on the Driveway", "Bobbie's Kitchen", "Lab Sequence", "Herb on Pole" and "Claire's Electrocution", these six deleted or extended scenes are quite interesting. They show the original intension that the women where in fact completely robots but without a commentary track we don't know why they changed the plot dynamic.

Stepford: Gap Reel (4.31 mins)
A montage of outtakes and gaffs by the cast, with a strong emphasis on Matthew Broderick, Jon Lovitz and Glen Close

Trailers (3.40 mins)
Your chance to watch the teaser and theatrical trailers for The Stepford Wives

OVERALL

DreamWorks have done a very good job bringing The Stepford Wives to DVD. The featurettes are good, covering most aspects of the films production and the commentary track by director Frank OZ is very informative. Fans of the movie will be very pleased with the disc, as it is a fine example of how a single DVD package should be approached. For everyone else this is well worth a rent.

DVD

The Stepford Wives (1975)

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2004