Wifelike

With Shannon Whirry and Shannon Tweed at career peaks, softcore porn movies were the rage in the '90s, via VHS and Cinemax popularity. Hardcore porn, especially via internet distribution ended that era, but here's a throwback, made by indie filmmakers headed by James Bird whose pretentious "fantasy/surrealism" style comes off as precious and as artificial as his AI characters.

It was distressing to see British actor John Rhys Meyers descend so quickly into the career tailspin of a Malcolm McDowell (who he physically resembles) -moving from A pictures to grade Z level. His breathy line readings are extremely poor, and his overall sleepwalking performance made him seem like an AI himself. Why Bird decided on such a misogynist premise (no husband replacement studs for sale here) mystified me. And the casting was a bust, with lovely heroine Elena so closely resembling Twiggy of the Sixties, rather than going for a voluptuous softporn actress. Even the glamorous settings look like current porn, hardcore that is, where the expicit lovemaking is often photographed in fabulous mansions by directors like Jules Jordan or Kayden Kross.

I recall Paramount Home Video releasing plenty of drek in this vein way back when, but for current Paramount Pictures to indulge is disappointing. The sci-fi potential of the story is completely wasted. Obviously, it takes a big budget to do a "Blade Runner", but the aspirations here are embarrassing.

Basically soft core porn with a plot and a used-to-be actor, Meyers Story moves really slow and isn't thought provoking at all. Concept is good but film lacks any grit. Given the guy's job, there are some tragically missed opportunities. Could have been a really great, gritty, dark film... but the whole thing looks like it was filmed in a dentists office. There's no real sci-fi aesthetic and costuming looks like it was by actor's choice. Dialogue is robotic (& without irony) and the characters meant to be mysterious are laughable. Way too slow in all developments. Had potential but unfortunately falls short. All that said, it's watchable.

This movie and its premise had a lot of potential, however the story is somewhat lackluster and unimpressive. Some of the acting and parts of the plot are also quite questionable.

However there are also some good parts. The actress playing Meredith is actually pretty good at interpreting an android and very likeable. Actually I liked her as an android a lot more than when she was playing the real person. Go figure.

I also enjoyed seeing a lot of beautiful half-dressed women in one place, which is mostly a big no-no in nowadays' movies.

Another thing I liked was the soundtrack, it has some good futuristic tunes and sound effects.

Overall, I'd say this movie is enjoyable/watchable if you have like 2 hours to kill.

It's a bit disappointing because it could have been great, but it's only halfway decent.

While this is rooted in the original Stepford Wives it does have a new twist. That twist is good and solid enough to make this film different enough to be worthy of a watch without thinking of the Stepford Wives.

I like the story line, and I suspect strongly that in other hands this film would have been a solid 7. However I only rated it 4.

The sets were really nice, albeit basic. The photography was very competent and it was paced well, I never found myself getting bored.

The problem? Poor acting, weak direction, B movie dialogue, and the attention to cheap thrills instead of concentrating on a great dramatic storyline. A very mature director would have brought this story home and entranced us all.

I would definitely recommend it as a Sunday evening thriller, as long as your expectations don't go too high.

Released earlier in the year, Wifelike is not the typical human/robot type film. It does contain interesting ideas but overall, it seems like it tries being more clever than it should be. And taking itself a little more serious.

Elena Kampouris is the clear standout here where from her opening appearance, we get a sense as to how this may unfold.

The film is definitely engaging and not boring with its constant turns and several twists but it's climax isn't great. The end twist is quite predictable where there were a lot of clues along the way.

Otherwise Wifelike is solid but don't expect another Ex Machina.