Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
A wife questions her life choices as she travels to Stockholm with her husband, where he is slated to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.
The Wife rests almost entirely on Glenn Close's towering, nuanced performance as Joan Castleman — a woman who has subordinated her own literary genius to her husband's career over decades. Close earned a well-deserved Oscar nomination for work that is genuinely exceptional, conveying volumes through restraint and micro-expressions. Jonathan Pryce is also strong as the self-aggrandizing Joe. The plot, based on Meg Wolitzer's novel, follows a fairly predictable trajectory once the central secret is established — the big revelation is telegraphed early and the structure (present-day Nobel week intercut with 1960s flashbacks) is conventional. Cinematography is competent and appropriate for the intimate drama but not particularly distinguished. Novelty is limited: the 'woman behind the great man' story is well-trodden literary territory, and the film doesn't find a particularly fresh angle beyond its lead performance. The ending is emotionally satisfying and thematically coherent — Joan's quiet declaration of independence lands — though it stops short of being genuinely surprising or devastating.