By Mr. Will Wong
While it premiered at TIFF ’17, Björn Runge‘s THE WIFE‘s path to the Oscars has been a slow, steady burn, not unlike unraveling of its characters. The Drama based on Meg Wolitzer‘s Novel of the same name, centers on celebrated Writer Joseph Castleman (Jonathan Pryce) and his wife, Joan (Glenn Close). They receive the surprise that Joseph will be awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature. Together with their son David (Max Irons), they are Stockholm-bound. The Story is told much in flashbacks with Harry Lloyd playing a young Joseph and Annie Starke as a young Joan, while we get the present day story told in linear fashion.
Emotions run high and feelings intensify as we uncover more about Jonathan and Joan’s secret past. The closer we get to the ceremony, we see David and Joan grow increasingly distant from Joseph as Nathaniel Bone (Christian Slater), a Writer looking to pen Joseph’s Biography much to his disapproval, awakens deeply-seated feelings of resentment over the years.
We admit we enjoyed THE WIFE more than we could have imagined. We become increasingly invested in Joseph and Joan‘s unravelling, thanks to some outstanding work from our lead duo. Close embodies Joan‘s many suppressed years of silence and quiet anger, and is fascinating on the verge of what always feels like an inevtiable blow-up. Pryce while little-recognized this Awards Season, delivers a captivating performance teetering on egomaniac at several points, while Irons delivers some solid work as thettightly-wound son living in the shadow of his father’s success.
It’s still not too late to meet THE WIFE in advance of what looks like Close‘s crowning moment at the Academy Awards later this month. Special Features on THE WIFE‘s Blu-ray release include KEEPING SECRETS, a Featurette with Glenn Close on the making of the Film, plus an In-Conversation with The Cast of the Film and also a Q&A with the Author of The Wife, Wolitzer and Close.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment release THE WIFE on Blu-ray January 29, 2019.
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