A must see movie because of a must see performance

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“THE WIFE” interweaves the story of one couple’s youthful passion with a portrait of a marriage, thirty-plus years later consisting of compromise, secrets, betrayals and mutual love. Glenn Close is “The Wife” of the title and of the many fine performances in her career this film performance is an actress at the height of her profession. You never see her acting and in the scenes where the camera concentrates on her face you know just what she is feeling, never letting on to those around her that she is nothing but the perfect wife every man wishes he has. Jonathan Pryce, plays the husband who seems to have it all and has now won the Nobel Prize for literature with his wife and son in attendance as he is honored in Sweden. Pryce gives Close strong support, but neither he nor the screenplay by Jane Anderson, adapted from the novel by Meg Wolitzer, are quite up to the level of Close’s silent, screaming performance. When she finally lets loose you don’t know if anyone else is on screen or even what she is saying vocally because she is the wife who represents all the wives ‘behind the man’ in the world. Max Irons as their son, Harry Lloyd as a young Pryce and Christian Slater as a journalist aren’t really up to par with the leads but Annie Starke as the young Close, her daughter in real life, imparts who the woman might become. Director Bjorne Runge seems to know when to get out of Close’s way and just let her be the wife but at the same time handles those around her. “The Wife” is a movie of clichés and really tackles an old theme that harks back to the days of Bette Davis but Glenn Close holds the screen as a star, an actress and a real person. No doubt she will be up for many of the honors coming in the award season. Movie Trailer