By Bob Bloom The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Jan. 29, unless otherwise noted: The Wife (Blu-ray) Details: 2018, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Rated: R, language, sexual content The lowdown: In her long and distinguished career, Glenn Close has never won an Academy Award. But that can — and should — change after her performance in “The Wife,” which has earned her another best actress nomination. At its core, the movie is an indictment of sexism and the hypocrisy in the literary world, in which men are lionized and women are marginalized. The movie centers on Joe Castleman (Jonathan Pryce) and his wife, Joan (Close), on the eve of his receiving a phone call telling him he has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. From the outset, we see Joan as Joe’s caretaker and main cheerleader, easing his doubts about whether he will receive the fateful phone call from Stockholm. She also monitors his diet and reminds him to take his pills. Joan is his support system. Yet, from its beginning, you see something in Joan’s eyes. It’s simply a flicker. You are unsure of its significance, but as the movie progresses and their lives together unfold — in the present and in flashback — you come to understand their complex and symbiotic relationship. Throughout the movie, director Bjorn Runge drops hints about the couple’s relationship. Joan asks Joe not to mention her in his Nobel acceptance speech because she does not want the spotlight. She tells Nathaniel Bone (Christian Slater), who wants to write a biography of her husband, that she does not want to be portrayed as a suffering wife or a victim. “No nugget of bitterness” colors her life, she says. As the movie progresses, you notice the little sarcastic digs Joan thrusts at Joe. And when she finally confronts her husband, it burns like fire from a dragon’s breath. After a while, you see the movie’s “big reveal” looming. Despite its obviousness, it does not detract from Close’s fierce performance. Critics believed so as well, giving the movie an 84 percent fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com.
New to View: Jan. 29
New to View: Jan. 29
New to View: Jan. 29
By Bob Bloom The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Jan. 29, unless otherwise noted: The Wife (Blu-ray) Details: 2018, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Rated: R, language, sexual content The lowdown: In her long and distinguished career, Glenn Close has never won an Academy Award. But that can — and should — change after her performance in “The Wife,” which has earned her another best actress nomination. At its core, the movie is an indictment of sexism and the hypocrisy in the literary world, in which men are lionized and women are marginalized. The movie centers on Joe Castleman (Jonathan Pryce) and his wife, Joan (Close), on the eve of his receiving a phone call telling him he has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. From the outset, we see Joan as Joe’s caretaker and main cheerleader, easing his doubts about whether he will receive the fateful phone call from Stockholm. She also monitors his diet and reminds him to take his pills. Joan is his support system. Yet, from its beginning, you see something in Joan’s eyes. It’s simply a flicker. You are unsure of its significance, but as the movie progresses and their lives together unfold — in the present and in flashback — you come to understand their complex and symbiotic relationship. Throughout the movie, director Bjorn Runge drops hints about the couple’s relationship. Joan asks Joe not to mention her in his Nobel acceptance speech because she does not want the spotlight. She tells Nathaniel Bone (Christian Slater), who wants to write a biography of her husband, that she does not want to be portrayed as a suffering wife or a victim. “No nugget of bitterness” colors her life, she says. As the movie progresses, you notice the little sarcastic digs Joan thrusts at Joe. And when she finally confronts her husband, it burns like fire from a dragon’s breath. After a while, you see the movie’s “big reveal” looming. Despite its obviousness, it does not detract from Close’s fierce performance. Critics believed so as well, giving the movie an 84 percent fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com.