The Rich Man's Wife (1996)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Amy Holden Jones

Writer (WGA):

Amy Holden Jones (written by)

Release Date:

13 September 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

The price of wealth just went up.

Plot:

A rich man's wife finds she has a bad prenuptial agreement with an even worse husband. Over drinks with a stranger...

Plot Keywords:

Husband Wife Relationship | Apostrophe In Title | Punctuation In Title | Happy Birthday To You | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Halle Berry	...	Josie Potenza
Peter Greene	...	Cole Wilson
Clive Owen	...	Jake Golden
Frankie Faison	...	Detective Ron Lewis
Charles Hallahan	...	Detective Dan Fredricks
Allan Rich	...	Bill Adolphe
Clea Lewis	...	Nora Golden
Christopher McDonald	...	Tony Potenza
Loyda Ramos	...	Grace
William Crossett	...	Cab Driver
Eddie Francis	...	Bartender
Lou DiMaggio	...	Party Guest
Alexandra Hedison	...	Party Guest
John Paragon	...	Maitre D'
Marc Shelton	...	Instateller Man

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and language.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Germany:18 | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Australia:MA | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/16 | UK:18 (video premiere) | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Caravan Pictures

Trivia:

Spoiler: According to Cinematographer Haskell Wexler, after the test screening the ending was changed as "the bad guy at the end didn't die badly enough. As it was, Halle Berry shot the guy, bang, he died. When we redid the scene, she shot him, kicked him in the nuts, struck him with a hatchet so he fell back, shattering a car windscreen before hitting the ground, where we stabbed him with a high heel..."

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Josie and Cole are struggling in the tunnel at the park, Cole wrestles away Josie's revolver and fires it 3 times at some would-be rescuers. Josie gets away and runs to the end of the tunnel. Cole fires the gun at her another 7 times. A total of 10 shots from a revolver holding 6 bullets.

Soundtrack:

MY DREAM

Garbage

Sad to say but even someone as fantastic as Clive Owen can make a career mistake. This is one of his rare bad movies, but as someone once said, sometimes you just have to make a living too.

Story is older than mold. Rich man has unhappy wife. Unhappy wife is a dope and confides in a total stranger that she has fantasies about her husbands demise. Before you can say PREDICTABLE!, stranger decides her fantasies should become reality.

But wait, its all a set-up. Can't tell you more than that, but there is more than one twist, none of them particularly original or well thought-out.

I really like Clive and I like Peter Greene too. Christopher McDonald I liked from such classics as "Requiem for a Dream" and "Quiz Show" but his character here is sketchy, at best.

Oh yeah, Halle Berry is in it too, and SURPRISE SURPRISE, she cries. 4/10.