(rated PG-13)
Where’s the one place that the world won’t notice a town full of robot wives? Connecticut. When Nicole Kidman loses her job, husband Matthew Broderick moves her to the seems-innocent-enough town of Stepford run by Christopher Walken and his wife, Glenn Close. But move over all you waspy housewives, these new neighbors know that something’s weird in the cookie dough recipe. The families are run by sex kitten bimbo spouses (and did I mention they’re all blonde?) With the help of Bette Midler, Kidman is determined to get to the bottom of this. And in doing so, learns that having a perfect wife may not be so perfect afterall. While the story starts out with a bang up opening, it slowly loses its momentum. Shame, since we’d have a much bigger hit if it did. But it doesn’t. Plot problems arise when an amusing everyday story turns quickly into sci-fi silliness. The upside is that the story addresses all those issues from sexual revolution to power struggles between spouses, and men who can’t handle wives who bring home a bigger paycheck. The lesson: In this world, every man dreams of a woman who will wait on him hand and foot, both on and off the big screen.
