The Stepford Wives (2004)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Joanna Eberhart	Nicole Kidman
Walter Kresby	Matthew Broderick	½
Bobbie Markowitz	Bette Midler	½
Claire Wellington	Glenn Close	½
Mike Wellington	Christopher Walken
Roger Bannister	Roger Bart
Jerry Harmon	David Marshall Grant
Dave Markowitz	Jon Lovitz
Vic Stevens	Jason Kravits

Review

Frank Oz is a director of lightweight and often forgettable material. His films tend to lack the suspense or the comedic charm they're supposed to have, and as a result his films have been mostly downhill since the delightful Bedtime Story-remake Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Here he delivers another rendition of a classic, adding comedy to Bryan Forbes 1975-chiller and returning with a surprisingly fine result. Despite tedious and childishly overwrought moments, The Stepford Wives provides a fine mix of humour and intrigue. Lightweight it still is, but Oz deserves kudos, mainly for the look of the film, which is great, but also for his smoothly progressed narration. However, what really makes this film such a joyous, if not hilarious, experience, are the many delightful performances. Nicole Kidman have some wonderful moments with the camera attached to her and both Christopher Walken and Roger Bart are pleasantly glowing in funny stereotypes. It is, however, Glenn Close who steals the show with another of those singularly mesmerizing acts. As with good wine, Close only improves with time. Give her a role like this in an important picture and she'll be right back there at Oscar-night.