The Stepford Wives (2004)

_**Confused comedic remake of the original 1975 film**_ A couple (Nicole Kidman & Matthew Broderick) moves from the Big Apple to Stepford, Connecticut, where many of the wives of the village are wholly dedicated to their husbands, home & garden and keeping themselves well-groomed and primed for sex. The husband joins the mysterious all-male organization of the town which seems to be up to something fishy. Bette Midler plays Joanna’s best friend while Glenn Close & Christopher Walken are on hand as high society leaders. “The Stepford Wives” (2004) is a confused comedic remake of the iconic 1975 film. It starts out like it might be a fun farce, and it is to some degree, but it’s hindered by an annoying stereotypical “gay” character and doomed by befuddled writing, the result of bad-management wherein rewrites and reshoots ruined the story's continuity and created plot holes. The most glaring example is the implication that the wives are replaced by robots; for instance, one woman is used as an ATM machine. At the end, however, Joanna (Kidman) discovers they've just been brainwashed by microchips inserted in their brains. If the latter is true, why was there an android version of Joanna? Do the men have a choice of a robot model or a human-with-a-microchip model? Do they choose “accessories”? It’s never elucidated. The film runs 1 hour, 32 minutes, and was shot in Connecticut and New York/New Jersey. GRADE: D+