Monday, November 30, 2009

best films: #53: THE FIRST WIVES CLUB (1996)

Previously ranked and blogged at #66
Confession: I'm fairly certain that I've never seen any movie as many times as I've seen The First Wives Club. Now the question I ask you is why on earth would this not be the case in anyone's life? It features three hilarious comedic performances from three very talented women -- Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, and Bette Midler; it has cameo and bit part appearances from some other talented folks -- Maggie Smith, Eileen Heckart, and Sarah Jessica Parker, to name a few; and Robert Harling's script is one of the funniest and most quotable I've ever encountered in my movie viewing. Following the frienassance of three buddies from college who find themselves in the same divorce-ridden predicament, First Wives Club is about these ladies' retribution against their money-grubbing ex-husbands-to-be. It's watching movies like this that makes me wonder, why is it that Hollywood doesn't bring powerhouse talents like this together more often? It's like planets aligning, as far as I'm concerned. And thanks to this, this, and pretty much all of this, First Wives Club is one of my all-time favorites.

Standout Performance: Midler and Keaton are hysterical (as usual), but for me, this show was all Hawn's, whose drunken aging actress is cheeky, silly, and pure genius.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I seriously agree with you on Goldie Hawn stealing the show with this one; I admittedly was not a big Goldie fan prior to the release of this movie, but her ballooned lip enhancements made me about die laughing.

Great review!