THE FIRST WIVES CLUB
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1996 Scott Renshaw
(Paramount) Starring: Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, Diane Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Maggie Smith, Dan Hedaya, Stephen Collins, Victor Garber, Bronson Pinchot. Screenplay: Robert Harling. Producer: Scott Rudin. Director: Hugh Wilson. Running Time: 102 minutes MPAA Rating: PG-13 (profanity, adult themes) Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
There is something so unapologetically out-of-date about THE FIRST WIVES CLUB that it becomes somewhat endearing almost in spite of itself. If you remember the 1980 Jane Fonda-Lily Tomlin-Dolly Parton comedy 9 TO 5, you will be familiar with the basic theme of THE FIRST WIVES CLUB, as well as the era from which it seems to arise. The idea of mis-treated housewives wreaking terrible vengeance on the pig-men who done 'em wrong is likely to cause much hand-wringing in the sensitive 1990s, and I might buy into that if THE FIRST WIVES CLUB seemed at all interested in the real problems of real people. What it really turns out to be is a silly sit-com of a movie with lots of bark but very little bite.
THE FIRST WIVES CLUB is the story of Brenda Morelli Cushman (Bette Midler), Elise Elliot (Goldie Hawn) and Annie MacDuggan Paradis (Diane Keaton), estranged college friends in New York who re-unite when another friend, Cynthia Swann Griffin (Stockard Channing, in an un-credited cameo) commits suicide. The women learn that Cynthia's ex-husband had just married a much younger woman, and that each of their husbands had similarly dismissed them for a newer model. Outraged at being thrown over after the best years of their lives, Brenda, Elise and Annie decide that it is time for a little payback. Thus is born The First Wives Club, dedicated to making the lives of their ex-husbands -- Morty Cushman (Dan Hedaya), Bill Atchison (Victor Garber) and Aaron Paradis (Stephen Collins), respectively -- genuinely miserable.
For a while, it is entertaining enough to watch the stars of THE FIRST WIVES CLUB sink their teeth into the kind of juicy roles which are not generally available to women their age. That context makes Hawn's part the most fun -- Elise is an aging film actress using every surgical means at her disposal to fight off the ravages of time and avoid playing "the mother." Living in a penthouse which is a shrine to her past glories, she drinks and exercises herself into obliviousness, and Hawn attacks the part like a great screwball comic. Keaton is equally adept with Annie, a woman with self-esteem issues and a terminally cheery outlook; she has a hilarious moment when she finally releases some pent-up aggression on her therapist (Marcia Gay Harden). Only Midler fails to strike a sympathetic chord; in the 17 years since THE ROSE, has she ever played anything but an abrasive, wise-cracking loud-mouth?
The film is supposed to kick into high gear once the three women set their plans in motion, but that is actually when it stalls out. Director Hugh Wilson has a television comedy background (writer for "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," creator of "WKRP in Cincinnati" and "Frank's Place") and an accompanying middle-brow sensibility, resulting in a rather limp attack on the patriarchy. THE FIRST WIVES CLUB is not a particularly creative revenge fantasy in the first place -- the justice isn't poetic because the women go for their exes' wallets, not their middle-aged egos and libidos -- but Wilson's haphazard shot selection makes it a rather clumsy one besides. On top of that, whatever sting there might have been in the story is taken out by a string of pointless cameos (Kathie Lee Gifford, Ed Koch, The Incredibly Wealthy Woman Formerly Known as Ivana Trump) and an ending straight out of television, as the women use their ex-husbands' money to open a women's crisis center. Everyone pauses to make sure we understand that whatever fun we might have been having was all in the service of a Very Important Message.
It is even more disappointing that one of our heroines actually reconciles with the husband we just spend an hour and a half cheering against, but I suppose that is actually in keeping with the retro feel of THE FIRST WIVES CLUB. Midler, Keaton and especially Hawn appear to be having a blast wreaking their own brand of vengeance on an industry which consigns actresses to oblivion when the wrinkles set in (there is a great line about how an older male actor like Sean Connery can still be a sex symbol). Unfortunately, their male production team is content to turn out a safely frivolous romp. There are several small pleasures in THE FIRST WIVES CLUB -- like SHOWGIRLS ingenue Elizabeth Berkeley in the karmically glorious role of a talentless young actress -- and one large disappointment. As a pilot for a network sit-com, it is fairly enjoyable; as a big-screen comedy, it is a pilot for a network sit-com.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 old wives' tales: 6.
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