Review of The Wife (2017) by Felipe P — 14 Oct 2018

That prize came with a price. So this is about a happy older couple (Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce). Life appears to be taking a turn for the better when the man gets a call early one morning, telling him that he has won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

So why isn't everybody in good spirits about this great news? Now I watched this one extremely cold, not knowing much of anything about it. A positive review got me to add this to my watchlist, but other than that, the only thing that spurred me to watch this was that it was down to the very last theater I could see it in before the film left my city entirely.

I am most certainly glad that I went out of my way to catch this on the big screen, because I think that this is one of the best movies of the year. Now I know that a lot of what made this work for me, personally, was a lack of gathered knowledge beforehand; I think a large part of what makes this movie so successful is that it is a joy in watching this story unfold.

Even though this starts off as cordial as can be, you can tell that there is something rotten brewing just beneath the surface. While there are exchanges that happen that are done without the intent to hurt somebody's feelings, you can still tell right away when somebody gets rubbed the wrong way; even if it is simply the matter of the words coming out wrong, you always feel that tension.

This is an adult type of drama, and when people have hard feelings, it makes things rather difficult, even when those feelings are deserved. If you couldn't tell, this movie is a gigantic case of the less you know, the better, and while I have only seen it the one time, I can see this getting even better upon multiple viewings.

Trust me on this, it is something that you just want to take the leap, watch it, and thank me later. You've got two marvelous leads in Close and Pryce, and frankly speaking, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest to see either one of them get award nominations, or even better yet, take home some Oscar gold.

The story feels genuine, and I highly enjoyed this little film.