The Wife

The Wife stars Glenn Close as Joan Castleman, and Jonathan Pryce as Professor Joseph Castleman.

In the second scene in the film, Professor Castleman gets a call that he has won the Nobel Prize for Literature. The film then shows Joan and Joseph as they prepare to fly to Stockholm and begin their whirlwind tour.

On the flight to Stockholm, the Castlemans have a discussion with a reporter named Nathaniel Bone, played by Christian Slater, who is writing a tell-all expose on Professor Castleman. He will play an integral role in the film in a later scene.

Once in Stockholm, Joan and Joseph begin to circulate among the other Nobel laureates and their wives. In a private moment alone, Joan asks Joseph to not thank her in his acceptance speech. He takes umbrage at the thought, and says he has to thank her in his speech; he feels that, if he doesn’t thank her in his speech, the audience present will think him a narcissist. To which she emphatically replied, “You are!”

The film is told in frequent flashbacks, starting at the time of their lives when they met. At that time, Joan was a student in Joseph’s class. He was married at the time, with children.

The comment about Joe being a narcissist is the audience’s first clue to the inner thoughts of Joan Castleman. It soon becomes clear just what Joan has been thinking and feeling. The audience then gets an idea of what she has lived through, survived, and endured all of these years.

The film is not entertaining, I will confess. Yet Glenn Close’s performance as Joan is riveting. Her performance in this film is multi-faceted and complex, a true master class in acting. She won the Golden Globe for this role, yet did not win the Oscar-that honor instead went to Olivia Coleman, in “The Favorite.” I will be watching that movie and reviewing it shortly. I will then have a more informed opinion on this matter. Still, I give Close's performance 5 stars.

“The Wife”, now on Blu Ray and DVD, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play. 3 stars.