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She-Devil (1989)

Director:
Susan Seidelman
COUNTRY
USA
GENRE
Comedy/Drama
NORWEGIAN TITLE
Hunndjevelen
RUNNING TIME
99 minutes
Producer:
Jonathan Brett
Susan Seidelman
Screenwriter (based on a novel by Fay Weldon):
Barry Strugatz


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Mary Fisher Meryl Streep
Ruth Patchett Roseanne Barr ˝
Bob Ed Begley Jr.
Hooper Linda Hunt
Mrs. Fisher Sylvia Miles
Garcia A Martinez ˝
Olivia Honey Maria Pitillo ˝

 

Review

She-Devil has an interesting premise with interesting casting choices, teaming up Roseanne Barr and Meryl Streep in roles that they both would consider different challenges at this stage in their careers. The film wants to be a quirky combination of comedy and feminism, but is only mildly successful in that matter. For the most of the time, director Susan Seidelman cannot lift the situations she presents to anything more than a predictable farce, because just like many of the supporting performances, the script is over-the-top in a non-charming way. That is not to say that She-Devil isn't a film one can enjoy at some level. In segments, it touches a fascinating female liberation vein that can be both uplifting and maybe give guys a thing or two to think about. Ruth Patchett is no Nora Helmer, but there are lightweight situations that are both funny and clever. Unfortunately, the fun dries up a bit too soon. Towards the end, the film rests mostly on Streep's accomplished performance. She has fun with a part that, to be honest, is more a caricature of the blasé romance novelist than it is a interpretation of a human being.

Copyright © 7.8.2007 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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