Glenn Close stars in the big screen adaptation of Meg Wolitzer's book that is tipped to finally bag the actress her first Oscar...
Director: Björn Runge
Starring: Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce, Christian Slater
Running time: 100 mins
It feels entirely apt to be watching The Wife right now. In a world where leading actors can claim that the #MeToo movement is "salacious" and divisive despite it not really achieving anything more than awareness, where a Nobel prize winner can be denied a Wikipedia page because she is "not important enough" and where the VIDA statistics still show inequality in the numbers of men and women published, The Wife has arrived at a time when our awareness of gender and sexual politics appear to be at a peak not seen for years.
Adapted from Meg Wolitzer’s terrific book of the same name, The Wife stars Glenn Close in the title role, Joan Castleman. Rumoured to be a favourite for an Oscar, her performance is a wonder to behold. Close can convey so much emotion in a single glance, and the pain, frustration and conflict going on in her character’s head is written across her face. It’s a carefully controlled, luminous performance, offset perfectly by Jonathan Pryce’s blustering turn as Close’s husband, Joseph Castleman.
We meet the Castlemans in a lengthy pre-credit scene, both lying awake in their coastal home in Connecticut, when the telephone rings and a voice tells them that Joseph Castleman has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Despite the celebrations, we know something is not quite right here. (How do we know? Look at Glenn Close’s face.)
It’s a gifted cast and they have strong material to work with
From there, the action moves to Stockholm and the pomp and ceremony undergone by the Castlemans and other Nobel winners. The story is interspersed with flashbacks to how the couple met, and a lovely performance by Annie Starke as a young Joan Castleman, and gradually the truth of their relationship emerges.
The fragile situation between husband and wife is strained at best, but they have brought along their son, David, who wants to be a writer and, more than that, wants his father’s approval. Adding to the uncomfortable mix is an attractive female photographer, and Christian Slater’s journalist Nathaniel Bone, who is writing an unauthorised biography of Joseph Castleman and wants to dish the dirt.
It’s a gifted cast and they have strong material to work with. Wolitzer said she wrote the book to explore “the dynamic that allowed some men to be lionised again and again.” Publishing is notorious for this, and when I read the book, I wondered if she had any particular authors in mind that she felt were not worth the acclaim. I imagine we all have lists of our own.
The film, however, belongs to Close. There is a majesty to her performance, especially as we near the end, and it’s a relief as the full fire of her pent up emotion explodes across the screen. Yet the relief is short-lived when her husband’s needs are put front and centre yet again; Joan’s bargain as The Wife was struck long ago.
Did you know? Glenn Close has been nominated for six Academy Awards, but is yet to win.
The Wife is screening at Broadway Cinema until Thursday 11 October
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