The Wife

Today was supposed to have seen the announcement of this year's Nobel Prize in Literature. That's not happening due to ugly circumstances. The award plays a part in director Bjorn Runge's first English-language film, The Wife.

Joan Castleman (Glenn Close) is the wife of Joe (Jonathan Pryce), an acclaimed author and now, Nobel Laureate. They immediately fly to Stockholm for the ceremonies. Their son, David (Max Irons), and aspiring biographer Nathaniel Boone (Christian Slater), tag along.

Meanwhile, we see Joan and Joe begin their relationship. He (Harry Lloyd) was her (Annie Starke, Close's daughter) literary professor. He left his first wife for her. Joan was a literary genius and he was ... a quack. She pretty much ghostwrote his acclaimed literature. Naturally, this marriage isn't easy. It all reaches a breaking point in Stockholm.

Meg Wolitzer's 2004 novel was visualized in Jane Anderson's screenplay. It's a comprehensible character study. It doesn't shift time periods rapidly. It also takes a while before it first shifts to the past. But you'll get the picture of Joan and Joe's tense marriage. It would've been nice to hear samples of the Castlemans' acclaimed literature. But that's me.

Close as Joan is the obvious highlight of the film. We first see her and Joe enjoying their life. She tries to stay strong in Joe's shadow. But we feel her resentment build in every argument with Joe. In fact, they argue a lot and usually make up rather quickly. She has the right to be angry, though. You'll know so when the film reveals her struggles. Her emotions are perfectly accentuated by Jocelyn Pook's melancholic score.

Don't take your spouse for granted. That's one takeaway from The Wife. It's a fascinating study of a long-lived marriage and its free-falls. There's a lot of conflicting emotions involved. But I hardly think it's a comedy as some have described it. But it's good for a quiet movie experience.