The First Wives Club - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The First Wives Club



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
Ah, the 90s once more. Right after releasing 1992’s Boomerang, Paramount is back on the wagon with a new Paramount Presents 4K remastered version of the previously unreleased (on Blu-ray) 1996 cult hit The First Wives Club. I vaguely remember watching this nearly 20 years ago when I was in college, and my wife has the DVD hidden somewhere in our collection. But I remembered so little of the original watch that this literally felt like a new movie to me.

In the vein of 9 to 5, The First Wives Club is a raucous comedy about female empowerment in the 90s and getting back those men who took their wives for granted. Sadly The First Wives Club doesn’t have the bite or wit of Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5, but makes for a fairly entertaining watch. After graduating from college together in 1960, friends Annie (Diane Keaton), Brenda (Bette Midler), Elise (Goldie Hawn) and Cynthia (Stockard Channing) vow that they will never lose touch. Well, losing touch is a part of life, and each of the 4 women drift apart into their own successes and failures in the next 27 years. The unfortunate suicide of Cynthia draws the 3 remaining women back together to mourn their loss and figure out what went wrong with their lives.

Annie is a door mat for her sleaze back husband Aaron (Stephen Collins, before his massive fall from grace in Hollywood), who ends up asking for a divorce due to schtooping her therapist. Elise’s husband Bill (Victor Garber) stole most of her life from her, and now that she’s older wants to divorce her AND get alimony to live life the way he wants to off of Elise’s acting success. Brenda (Bette Midler) is the typical slighted Jewish house wife who watches her husband Morty (Dan Hedaya) keep all the money from their business and hooks up with 21 year old Shelly (Sarah Jessica Parker). Now the three ladies want revenge, and they figure that if they can pool their feminine resources they can dig up enough dirt on their ex husband’s to BURY them.

The First Wives Club starts out fairly fun, with an interesting girl power premise that everyone can get behind. No one likes the idea of cheating no good spouses, so it’s off the races as we watch the 3 women try to figure out how to get even with their philandering exes. The only problem is, the script starts to devolve about half way into the film, with the furthering hijinks coming across as more and more ludicrous as the film goes on. By the time the film ends it’s no longer a witty and biting commentary on post modern culture and equality, but rather a slapstick comedy complete with dance numbers, a pie in the sky plan that makes no sense, and random catch phrases like “don’t get even, get everything”.

Spawning a musical, a tv show, and countless adorations by fans, The First Wives Club does have a rather decent following. I guess I must not be one of them as I felt the movie was a bit pedantic and cliched in how it handled everything. Sure, the 90s was a bit cliched in general, but this entry just hasn’t aged that well. It starts a stunning cast with just about EVERYONE from the 90s (Rob Reiner, Stephen Collins, Victor Garber, Dan Hedaya, Maggie Smith, and a dozen more), but the limited chemistry between the leads is what kills it. The husbands knock it out of the park as epic sleaze bags, but once more I feel that the movie played better as a play rather than a movie. The yo-yo effect from serious to comedic doesn’t always hit, and the final act has a difficult time coming together. The movie is still a solid bit of entertainment though, with a great cast (as mentioned), wonderful set pieces, and great premise.




Rating:

Rated PG for thematic elements, some mild language and sensuality




Video:

Well, Paramount certainly hasn’t pulled any punches with the new 4K remaster. The disc looks incredibly organic, with a great layer of grain over the image that doesn’t full swarmy or obtrusive. Colors are a bit on the warm side (typical of the 90s), with things like a red shirt or a blue dress really popping off the screen. Fine details are superb, with skin tones looking resplendent. Clothing details show off individual stitch work, and black levels are deep and inky. The only time I really noticed any issues was during the inside of of Annie’s apartment which looks a bit grungy in one night time shot half way through. All in all, a very nice image.







Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is what you would expect of a dramedy. It’s very front heavy for a majority of the time, but supplements the dialog and two main speakers with a smattering of surround activity I the middle of a party, or the score filling out the back end. Subs are used sparingly but nicely, adding weight to the music and a few door slammings. It’s not going to win action movie of the year in terms of sound design, but for a simple comedy from the 90s it does everything asked of it with ease.












Extras:

• Filmmaker Focus - Featurette with Screenwriter Robert Harling
• Theatrical Trailer
• Collectible packaging featuring a foldout image of the film's theatrical poster and an interior spread with key movie moments

Final Score: ​

Maybe I’m out of touch, but even my wife commented to me after the movie was done “huh, I remember this being better”. Fun, fluffy, not too serious, it seems like a film that was better back in the 90s and some of the cliches seem old fashioned and goofy. The Blu-ray is fantastic though, with amazing video, good audio, but a rather meager array of like 2 extras. That’s one thing I really thought Paramount could have done was dig out the old DVD extras and transfer them across. A decent watch in my humble opinion.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Victor Garber, Maggie Smith, Stephen Collins, Elizabeth Berkley
Directed by: Paul Weitz
Written by: Dana Stevens, Paul Weitz, Matt Logelin (book)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French, DD 5.1, English DVS 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, English, French
Studio: Paramount
Rated: PG
Runtime: 103 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: June 28th, 2022

Recommendation: Decent Watch