Synopsis: Don’t get mad. Get everything.
Join the club – The First Wives Club, the good-time-battle-of-the-sexes satire sparked by snappy one-liners, great physical-comedy gags and three unforgettable stars in top form. Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton portray mid-life Manhattanites who have more than a longtime friendship in common. After years of helping their hubbies climb the ladder of success, each has been dumped for a newer, curvier model. But the trio is determined to turn their pain into gain. They come up with a cleverly devious plan to hit their exes where it really hurts – in the wallet! Sit back and watch the sparks fly as The Wives get mad, get even and get it all. Justice has seldom been so sweet. Or so much fun.
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I remember how, when I first saw this movie about a decade ago, I was disappointed with the second half of the story. I remember loving the basic premise but hated how it turned out – probably as of the first musical bit, actually.
Not so this time. I liked the whole thing – although I didn’t find it laugh-out-loud funny. It amused me, and I enjoyed this story of women taking back their lives after being ditched by their exes for younger models. I would enjoy that sort of thing.
As per usual, Keaton was pretty good, if over-the-top at times, and Bette Midler was rock-solid. Goldie Hawn still scares me, though; I always found her odd-looking, but in this film she’s become the Hollywood nightmare, all dyed, tanned, plastified to death. Ugh. Still, her performance is decent. But it was hard to look at her.
Overall, though, I think it’s an enjoyable film. Nothing outstanding, but certainly worth seeing more than twice.
thecriticaleye 