Customer Reviews

The First Wives Club [VHS]

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

In 1996, Hugh Wilson directed a very funny comedy about three friends that were all dumped by their husbands for younger women in the film "First Wives Club". Based upon the 1992 novel of the same name by Olivia Goldsmith (1949-2004), the three friends (who had met in college) are brought back together after their fourth friend, Cynthia Swann Griffin (Stockard Channing), jumped from her penthouse apartment in Manhattan after her husband left and she felt totally alone. Upon learning about each others similar marital problems, the surviving friends, which include the boisterous Brenda Cushman (Bette Midler), the movie actress Elise Elliot (Goldie Hawn) and the timid Annie Paradis (Diane Keaton), decide to work together to attain vengence upon their ex-husbands. Brenda's ex-husband, Morton 'Morty' Cushman (Dan Hedaya), wants to marry the very young and shallow Shelly Stewart (Sarah Jessica Parker). Elise's ex-husband, Bill Atchison (Victor Garber), is dating the very young aspiring actress Phoebe LaVelle (Elizabeth Berkley). Annie's separated husband, Aaron Paradis (Stephen Collins), is having an affair with Annie's therapist, Dr. Leslie Rosen (Marcia Gay Harden). To assist them, the trio of first wives enlist help from their friends, which include the interior decorator Duarto Feliz (Bronson Pinchot), Annie's daughter Chris Paradis (Jennifer Dundas), the socialite Gunilla Garson Goldberg (Maggie Smith) and Brenda's Uncle Carmine (Philip Bosco).

Though the plot was somewhat weak and the acting and screen writing were not Oscar-worthy, "First Wives Club" is still very entertaining and engaging. The most memorable acting comes from Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, Diane Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker and Victor Garber. The film did receive an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score. Memorable scenes in the film include Cynthia on her balcony, her funeral, the trio at the restaurant, Elise visiting Bill's office, Annie's visits with Dr. Leslie Rosen, Morty's commercial, Shelly with Gunilla, Morty's apartment, the auction, the fight, Annie's purchase, Chris' announcement and the closing scenes. Other memorable characters include Annie's mother Catherine MacDuggan (Eileen Heckart, 1919-2001), Dr. Morris Packman (Rob Reiner) and Brenda's son Jason (Ari Greenberg), as well as cameos by Ivana Trump, Kathie Lee Gifford, Gloria Steinem and former NYC mayor Edward I. Koch. Olivia Goldsmith also made an unaccredited cameo. Overall, I rate "First Wives Club" with 4 out of 5 stars. It's a fun film that both women and men can enjoy, though women may enjoy it more since the men in the film are the bad guys.

I guess I'm a bit behind the eight ball - I just watched this movie for the first time last week - and it was great!!!

Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton & Bette Midler work wonderfully together in this movie, and they each play their characters to the hilt!!!

The gist of the movie is that these women were all great friends during their teen years but had lost touch through the years. The suicide death of one of their "group" brought them all together once again. While catching up, they realized that they were all going through similar situations in their marriages - they were all being cheated on by their husbands!

Once they figure this out, they decide to put their heads together to come up with inventive ways to get back at their husbands for doing this to them - and I must say they do an excellent job at it!!!

Overall, this is a great comedy to watch with your girlfriends -I'm not sure if the men would be as eager to watch it with you. I give "The First Wives Club" 2 thumbs up!

I watched this movie as a favorite for a long while and then decided to read the book- and I realized after a few chapters how different the book is to the movie. And yet that is a good thing- since the book version is to me so very isolating and dull, while the movie is heart- warming friendship- comedy type of story which makes it a lot better. So yes- if you are planning to read the book- don't expect it to be at all like the movie, and I don't recommend the book at all.

I do recommend this movie though highly. It is as I said a comedy at a best, with an actual strong cast to carry it off well. It is a true chick- flick, and I knew many men would get upset at it just because of the fact the men in the story didn't get their cake and eat it too. Well too bad. The whole point of the story was that the women helped their husbands get to their lofty positions and then when they got there they dropped the wives after all their love and support for younger trophy wives, and so the first wives got back what they themselves had actually worked for and not the men. If the men want it back they can actually work for it this time on their own. That was the whole point and I felt it was good justice. And no, I don't hate men- but I feel men who do the acts these men did to their first wives had the "What goes around comes around" saying coming to them, and it did. Good ole Karma.

This movie actually was very well- done, with some funny moments and a good amount of realistic drama. Very enjoyable film, especially Goldie whom played her role I felt wonderfully. It's one of my faves on my film shelf.

I enjoyed the "First Wives Club"! Directed by Hugh Wilson in 1996, it's a movie many women can identify with about four college friends; Cynthia Swann Griffin (Stockard Channing), Elise Eliot Atchison (Goldie Hawn), Brenda Morelli Cushman (Bette Midler), and Annie MacDuggan Paradis (Diane Keaton). After graduation, each busy with her own life, time races by and the four lose track of each other. When Cynthia commits suicide Elise, Brenda, and Annie are reunited at her funeral and begin rekindling their friendship.

Getting reacquainted they learn that each of them has been tossed aside and replaced by younger woman in their men's lives, after many years of marriage. Brenda is separated from her husband but hopes to reconcile, Annie and her husband are in therapy and also separated, and Elise, an actress who worries she is past her prime, is faced with splitting everything and making alimony payments to her soon to be ex-husband. During a pity party, they realize it would be much better to spend their energy in getting even than to staying angry, feeling sorry for themselves, or following Cynthia's lead. To accomplish their goal a strategy tailored to each man is set in motion. I especially enjoyed the scene where Elise delivers the proceeds from the sale of their assets to her husband!
Although the girls start out seeking revenge, their focus begins to shift as the self-confidence they had in their youth is resurrected and they realize that life, like each of them, still has much more to offer. A great ending!

The therapist should have been hamstrung and thrown out of the profession. As many times as I've watched the movie, it drives me crazy that she didn't "get hers." However, the most distracting aspect of the movie? Diane Keaton's costume. Why was she dressed as a gestapo agent, event down to the eyeglasses. This is the worst costuming I have ever seen. And, even her hair is in keeping with this ridiculous appearance. I'd give anything to get an explanation for this travesty from the costumer or whoever is responsible for this travesty. (Her character absolutely did not require such outfitting). It makes it very difficult to enjoy Keaton's acting.

A enjoyed this film and mainly it was becouse of the stars. Three legends all in one film bette Midler is great, Goldie Hawn is halariouse and then there is Diane Keaton who is the weakest link but still good. the story is funny as 3 divorced women get revenge ont here husbands. Overall the film is good it has some slow parts which makes the film only a good film and not great.

This was a chick flick in many respects, but not so sappy and irrational that it annoys you like other chick flicks do. All three leads are legitimately angry and the audience feels for them, because we've all been scorned (whether you're a man or a woman, but it will obviously speak to you moreso if you are a woman). I wouldn't give this 4 stars because the song and dance routines were lame and kind of annoying.

Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler are three old friends who are reunited over the death of a college friend. She committed suicide off her penthouse suite after her husband left her for another woman. The three receive letters from her sent just before she jumped expressing her grief. She wished she had all that they did, and that they were still good friends. The three get back together after her funeral and discover that while the years have affected them differently they have all experienced the same woes when their husbands, who they were there to support in their early, lean years, achieved success, and all left them for younger women.

Diane Keaton, perhaps the weakest of them all, endures her mother's bullying and her daughter's coming out on top of her divorce, plus being used by her estranged husband while he is also seeing her therapist who she had been paying to help her sort out her problems. {Ewww) Goldie Hawn is an actress who, in an industry which glorifies youth and beauty unlike any other, had her husband leave her for a younger woman even though she has pulled her face taught and self medicating with alcohol rather than popping pain pills. Bette Middler, the funniest of them all and always the star of every show, had her husband leave her for Shelly, a shark of a younger woman who was working in her husband's furniture store. Being traded in for a newer model, the three decide to form a union to not just help themselves but other women in similar situation.

The plot unfolds in a series of screwball comedy antics, revelation, tears, and ultimately personal triumph for all, but it also tells us something else that we don't like talking about much. Women have a fear of being overthrown based on their age, of getting dried up and loosing their attractiveness. Then, when their husbands / boyfriends get tired of them they will be inevitably traded in for younger women. Why? There is no one answer to this. Greed, a realization of one's own mortality, the proverbial "midlife crisis" situation, physical attractiveness or unattractiveness all play a role. There is no real answer. But, women have to stop harping on those things. Society doesn't smile upon it, but women should start dating younger men too. I have, and it's been very rewarding. If you don't have a boyfriend/husband, well get over it and be happy with yourself. You don't need a man to make yourself complete, you're a queen and deserve to be one. And younger women, don't buy into this thing of dating older men because you find ones your own age jeuvenile or awkward. Older men are just as jeuvenile and awkward to be going for someone young enough to be their daughter.

The best revelation I found in this movie was Bette Midler's husband's realization about his trophy wife. While she is obviously a tornado in the sack, she summed it up best when she said she was not Brenda (his ex wife). He simply said "No, you're not". He realized he had made a mistake, and that he was thinking with something other than his brain. I guess guys are just like that, they have to learn the hard way that they don't want some bubbleheaded, self centered princess. They want to feel superior, but they want to be challenged as well. Give them just enough of a challenge, and if they dump you make them feel guilty that they screwed up and let a wonderful woman like you slip through their fingers.

I love and admire this movie its a make you wanna feel good movie if your going through braking up or the D word..

even if your not going through it its still enjoyable, fun and entertaining.....

I have always been a big fan of Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton, I bought the picture when it first came out on vhs. I think I viewed it to many times because the picture and sound quality began to fade, thus I looked all over the country side for the dvd version to no avail, so I decided to order it from Amazon.com only to find it on the shelf at Target a few weeks later but I don't regret my purchase, thanks guys. I'm sure I will enjoy it for many years to come. It's such a funny and dramatic picture.

This is the next generation of chick flick. This is the chick flick for middle aged woman. Starting in the 60's, men and women got married and the woman supported men while he got his college degree or helped him build his business. Then, once successful, they left their wives for younger women.

This is the basis for this film. Cynthia (Stockard Channing), Annie (Diane Keaton), Elise (Goldie Hawn) and Brenda (Bette Middler) are all sorority sisters. Over the years they have lost touch with each other. All married and made their husbands wealthy. When Cynthia's husband leaves her, she commits suicide. The other three reunite after Cynthia's funeral. Each claiming that their shaky marriage is solid.

Eventually, each husband trades in for the younger model. Annie, Elise and Brenda are determined not have a similar fate as Cynthia. Each has their own issues but one by one they pick off the ex's. The best are Elise taking all of the marital assets and selling them for $1 and the next involves society matron Gunulla (Maggie Smith) taking Brenda's ex's bimbo (Jessica Sarah Parker) under her wing.

This is a hilarious fantasy that any person that has been dumped will love. Some of the scenes are silly but overall it hits true.

Bette of course steals the show but Maggie Smith could have stolen the show if her part was bigger.

DVD EXTRAS: None