Olive Films are resurrecting another interesting 80s title on June 9th with She-Devil. The movie marked TV star Rosanne Barr’s movie debut and actress Meryl Streep’s first foray into the comedy genre. While it’s no masterpiece of the form, the pair do manage to raise plenty of smiles.
The plot follows Ruth Pratchett (Rosanne Barr), the kind but underappreciated wife of a philandering jerk named Bob (Ed Begley Jr.). When accountant Bob begins an affair with glamorous romance novelist Mary Fisher (Meryl Streep), Ruth hopes that it is only a phase and that he will soon come to his senses. However, when he browbeats her in front of the entire family and walks out on them all, the woman snaps. She knows the things that Bob holds most important in life and so she sets out to take them away one by one.
At the time of release, many critics didn’t care for the tone. Truth be told, by today’s standards it’s actually a tame and subdued effort. Ruth takes a lot of abuse early on and earns a great deal of sympathy. When she sets out to change her life, opportunities for darker and more exaggerated scenarios arise. Yet it feels like some of the revenge scenes aren’t quite as nasty or cutting as they could be. The movie actually has a softer and more forgiving approach than anticipated. Even though it doesn’t seem to take full advantage of the “She-Devil” concept, some of the gags are quite amusing.
And the cast is quite strong. Barr is likable as the title character, deadpanning some effectively sinister looks of bemusement. In fact, while she has done a great deal of television work, it’s surprising to see that the actress wasn’t utilized more in movies. Streep seems to be having a good time behaving in a spoiled, pompous (and yet insecure) manner. This makes it all the more entertaining when she’s put into awkward and unexpected social situations. Begley Jr. also seems to be reveling in the role of a selfish cad who is friendly on the surface, but whose eye wanders to every woman he passes.
The movie shares many similarities to last year’s Cameron Diaz comedy, The Other Woman. Thankfully, this effort is stronger and features a much sharper lead female. While a lot of screen time from the recent release involved women planting laxatives on the antagonist to give him a case of the runs, the deviousness plotted here is much more detailed and purposeful. It’s done in part to teach the target a honest lesson about what he takes for granted.
Overall, She-Devil holds up reasonably well. While the Blu-ray doesn’t contain any extras, the image looks very good. It’s a much sharper picture with colors that pop much brighter than anyone has seen before. The movie itself may be a bit uneven, but enough of the gags work to make the experience worthwhile. Those who remember the movie fondly or are curious about this very 80s effort will likely get a few chuckles from what they see.
Back in the day well before its release, there was a teaser trailer for the film that humorously contrasted the state of the two main characters, cutting back and forth while a narrator read out the stars names. It doesn’t appear to be available online at present, but there is a very abbreviated Australian commercial that has a similar tone to that full teaser. It’s shorter and isn’t quite as funny, but it gets the idea across. Check it out below.