It’s 1992, Connecticut. Joan and Joe Castleman (Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce) lie in bed unable to fall asleep, anxiously awaiting a phone call. Later, Joe goes up and down some sweets to calm his nerves because the Nobel Prize winners will be announced tomorrow. Awakened at dawn, they hear the news exactly as they dreamed it. In the following days there are celebrations, dinners and plans for the next trip to Sweden. We recognize how they complement each other, Joe is casual, vain and absent-minded while Joan is serene, elegant and modest.
After learning that he won the Nobel, Joe tells his fans, “My wife is not a writer.” The comment irritates Joan, but she lets it pass. It is the window to your fraudulent association.
On the Concorde flight to Stockholm, a relentless Nathaniel Bone (Christian Slater) approaches the family and is determined to write Joe’s biography, with or without their involvement. Joe rejects her pleas, uncomfortable with her intrusion. However, Joan advises a more diplomatic approach, a harbinger of things to come, when things started to unravel.
In Stockholm, we see why the Castlemans do not like a journalist to interfere with their lives when Joe notices the beautiful young photographer (Karin Franz Korlof) assigned to document their stay. Joan notices this budding flirtation, but lets it go. It has happened before. Interspersed flashbacks fill in the gaps, going back to the 1960s when young Joe (Harry Lloyd) was a struggling married writer teaching creative writing at Smith College and Joan (Annie Starke) was his enthusiastic student who displayed considerable talent. They have an affair, he leaves his wife to marry her. Soon, Joan abandons her ambitions and realizes that writing is a male-dominated game and that her talent is a threat to the self-esteem of the man she loves.
In preparation for acceptance of the award, attendees perform the ritual ceremony of reverence to the King, then to other award winners, and finally to the audience. While Joe does his, he feels dizzy and needs to be helped off the stage. Was it nerves, guilt, or maybe a health problem?
You might think that Nathaniel Bone’s character is the antagonist in this story. However, as the story unfolds, he becomes the catalyst that opens the scars of a fraudulent life. In the revealing pub scene between Joan and Nathaniel, we feel how their recognition of Joe’s success has been overlooked. Joan sways and zigzags, dodging Bone’s accusations, being the loyal and selfless wife, but underneath is the pent-up frustration of always giving and never receiving in return. A superbly performed scene that has so many levels. It’s an escape scene, as he drinks too much, smokes, something he’s avoided for years, and almost spills the beans on the marriage.
Within this pub scene, there is a revealing flashback that spills the beans and reveals the crux of their relationship. It is the open wound that festers in the climactic scene of the film. After Joan leaves the awards dinner, Joe follows her back to the hotel. Thirty years of marriage unravel as they unleash their pent-up resentments and frustrations. As the truth comes out, it becomes a catastrophic ending to what at first appeared to be a happy and loving relationship.
Glenn Close’s standout performance is one of restraint, concealing and at the same time revealing the confusion underneath. It’s an onion-like layer presentation where we only see fragments, but as they build up we slowly get the whole picture. Playing the devoted wife, she must keep her secrets, and in this extraordinary, fascinating and complicated role, Glenn Close delivers the best performance of her career.
As the cocky, curmudgeonly old writer, Jonathan Pryce vividly portrays the needy and narcissistic husband with dubious writing skills. This is demonstrated when his son David (Max Irons) repeatedly asks for an evaluation of his tale and again when Joe cannot remember the name of the main character in his most popular book. However, you have those moments when you appreciate and love; where everything must be forgiven.
Christian Slater plays the soft-spoken journalist Nathaniel Bone, who seeks fame by doing a biography of Joe Castleman, especially now that he has won the Nobel Prize. This is a difficult role as he cleverly turns an informal conversation into an impromptu interview to obtain material for his book. Her scene with Close is the centerpiece of the story, as it reveals the depth of Joan’s resentment.
Jane Anderson’s screenplay aptly applies screenwriting tools, namely omens, flashbacks, and well-placed plot points. The dialogue is crisp but packed with enough context to dive deeper into the characters. In this #MeToo era, the premise, that of careless respect, is the most relevant.
Bjorn Runge’s directing is straightforward, allowing the highly trained cast to do their thing. Since most of the story takes place within the minds of the characters, it focuses on their emotional content rather than informational content. To do this, he uses a delicate balance of action and reaction planes.
The production values are top-notch and show very well the pomp of Stockholm and its Nobel Prize ceremony. Jocelyn Pook’s musical score keeps us emotionally involved, but makes the result ambiguous. Editing and sound effects give us that “We’re there” feeling.
The Wife is an eye-opening emotional journey that celebrates feminism and self-discovery.
While it was screened at film festivals in 2017 (and was subsequently acquired for distribution), its release was rumored to have been delayed until 2018 to give Glenn Close a better shot at an Oscar nomination. Young Joan is played by Glenn Close’s daughter, Annie Starke. Although set in Connecticut and Stockholm, most of the film was shot in Glasgow, Scotland.
CREDITS: “The Wife” stars Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce, Christian Slater, Max Irons, Harry Lloyd, Annie Starke and Alix Wilton Regan. Director: Bjorne Runge, Writer: Jane Anderson (adapted from Meg Wolitzer novel), Producers: Claudia Bluemhuber, Meta Louise Foldager Sorensen, Rosalie Swedlin, Piers Tempest, Jo Bamford and Piodor Gustafsson, Editor: Lena Runge, Production Design: Mark Leese, Director of Photography: Ulf Brantas, Costume Designer: Trisha Biggar, Music: Jocelyn Pook, Song: “Let’s Fly Away” Written by Joe Lervold and Julius Robinson, Performed by Joel Evans Big Band with Patrick Tuzzolino. Production Companies: Tempo Productions Limited, Anonymous Content, Meta Film, Silver Reel, Spark Film & TV. Distributor: Sony Picture Classics. Duration: 100 minutes.