by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 12, 2008

"The Stepford Wives" takes a cult horror film from the 70s, and makes it into a campy comedy. Nicole Kidman was perfectly cast at the sophisticated TV programmer who's about to confront the creepy secret hidden in the small town of Stepford. Its men are transforming their wives into obedient pleasure robots!

Bette Midler plays a sassy writer who befriends Kidman when she first moves into the isolated town. With their friend Roger, they soon discover the strange conformity of the other people in their town. (The women all enjoy cooking, wearing dresses, and waiting for their husbands to return from work.) There's a sinister conspiracy happening behind the doors of the men's club. But they should've realized when the town's leading couple is the eerily blissful Glenn Close and her spooky husband Christopher Walken!

Director Frank Oz lets the plot recedes in the background for several gags and jokes. When a robot-wife malfunctions, she shoots spectacular sparks from her head as the town looks on in only mild surprise. ("Anybody got a screwdriver," Glenn Close says at one point.) But there is an intriguing story which keeps pulling the characters forward.

Matthew Broderick plays Kidman's sympathetic husband, but Bette Midler isn't so lucky with her husband, played by Jon Lovitz. Soon she's been transformed into another "Stepford Wife," abandoning her writing career to better fill her role as the perfect home-maker. Even Kidman's friend Roger is transformed into a "Stepford husband" by his partner in a gay relationship. And there's ultimately a hint of a political message, with a local rally suggests that Stepford is leading the way for the rest of America.

The good guys are victorious in the end. ("I didn't marry something from Radio Shack," Matthew Broderick tells the other husbands.) The plot is exposed, with a couple quick twists at the end. Since it's a comedy, the danger never seemed particularly threatening. After all, one of the clues was a button a remote control unit that can increases a wife's bust size!

Ultimately the movie delivers just enough laughs to make it seem worthwhile.

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