Review of Wakefield (2017) by Amy C — 27 Aug 2017
Not even Bryan Cranston's stellar acting could save this movie for me. Although I expected the main character to be selfish, I wasn't prepared for how misogynistic and self-absorbed he would be.
He is terribly emotionally abusive to his wife, he envies and criticizes her while refusing to examine his own drawbacks, and even as he seems to hate her, he continues to sexually objectify her as he stares into her bedroom window.
His sexism is echoed in the film itself: we never hear his wife speak, her strength to push through her husband's disappearance is never acknowledged, and her character is simply a pawn to the egotistical agendas of the men around her.
Even the ending is hollow for me. Wakefield's character never achieves redemption: he returns to his life not because of some shift in character, revelation, or personal growth, but because he senses that something that belongs to him (i.
E., his wife) is in danger of being stolen by another man. In short, incredible acting, and a storyline that tries hard to comment on the human condition while falling far short.
This review of Wakefield (2017) was written by Amy C on 27 Aug 2017.
Wakefield has generally received mixed reviews.
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