The Stepford Wives (DVD, 2004, Widescreen Collector's Edition)

I'm talking about the 2004 version. Not the old one. The old one was iconic.

This one was terrible, dreadful, awful.

There's one problem with this movie: It isn't funny. At all. I think we counted maybe 3 laughs. The original version was a drama, with real people and real tension, set in a real world. I cared about the main character. This version was a comedy, with cartoon people in a fake world. I didn't care about the main character. In fact, I wanted the main character to be turned into a robot, so Nicole Kidman could stop trying to act.

In this version, I think director Frank Oz gave up on having a real movie, because he figured everyone knew about the robot twist, so there wouldn't be any suspense. The alternative was to make it a comedy. Which might have been a good idea, had there been any humor in the movie. Instead of a funny spoof, it was a hectic, self-conscious horrorshow. Nicole Kidman was morose one minute, manic the next. Matthew Broderick looked like he wanted to be put out of his misery. The only one who looked like he was having fun was Christopher Walken, because he just didn't care.

Let's not talk about Glenn Close. The memories of her brutal overkill and glittering wife-fangs are still painful.

Two critical errors: Having "Joanna" decide to try and fit in and be Stepfordy. The scene where Matthew Broderick threatens divorce. Neither of those things made any sense, and together they picked up this derailed train and threw it off a cliff.

Lesson: Don't try to be Tim Burton, because you're NOT Tim Burton. Frank Oz did well with his Elmo titles -- maybe Elmo Goes to Stepford would have been a better idea.

I bought this movie thinking it would be really funny since Matthew Broderick was in it and I like Nicole Kidman and Bette Midler, but it was a huge dissappointment to me. I hadn't seen the original movie, so all I was comparing it to was other current comedies available. Maybe I'd have enjoyed this film much more had I seen the original and considered seeing this film as a "re-make" and not just a funny contemporary movie to see. I thought the acting was terrible and at best the film was "amusing." The story line was so-so, obviously sci-fi and unbelievable, which wasn't what I was expecting. Catch you in a better movie Matthew Broderick!

The cutting social commentary, mild horror, and dark satire that made the original (1975) version is sadly lacking in this particular remake. Billed as a comedy, it tries entirely too hard to go for cheesy laughs which don't generally work, especially when watching normally high-caliber actresses & actors act, quite frankly, stupid. If you are looking for a way to kill 92 minutes of your life, this might just be the movie for you.

After seeing the original, watching this version of Stepford Wives was utterly painful. Actually, I think it would still have been painful had I NOT SEEN the original. In fairness, this version IS listed as a comedy while the original is clearly a horror film, so maybe it is unfair to draw comparison between the two. However, given the caliber of the cast in this version I was expecting a lot more. (I guess this proves that even great actors cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, so to speak.) I found this movie to be utterly ridiculous. The characters are one dimensional, unbelievable and unlikeable. And the storyline is just one failed attempt at humor after another for the entire 90 minutes. I almost wanted Joanna (main character) to be turned into a robot- it might have given her some depth!

Enjoying the 'Stepford Wives' in its orginial version, I decided to purchase this deliberately different approach to Stepford's uniquely male ambition (or so it would seem), viewing more from curiosity than a sense of discovering a seriously comparable movie. And while I enjoyed this 'update', it definitely does not belong in the horror genre, more a take off or contemporary spoof of the original film. I enjoyed the cast and their performances, the large, modernized sets and colorful costuming, less enjoying the shallow, almost funny dialogue. A few new twists in Stepford, punctuated by occasional dry wit and opportunities to smile, made this movie moderately enjoyable, notwithstanding the attempted surprise ending (which failed to land), placing blame entirely upon one tortured, compulsive soul. Good for an evening when you have nothing better planned.