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.

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.

Wifelike is a company which creates robots sold to men to be obedient sexy wives. William Bradwell (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is purchasing Meredith (Elena Kampouris) to replace his late wife. He works for the company. Ironically, she was an advocate against the company.

This has the potential of an interesting sci-fi movie, but it struggles to get away from the 90's late night cable softcore porn feel. Kampouris plays an awkwardly submissive robot. There are some issues with the premise construction. It seems crazy to have a dream mode for robots. It makes no sense. I don't mind the twist in the movie, but it could be done better. I have a better twist. Meredith could be the real person under some sort of mind control. Maybe implant a chip in her brain and come at the premise from that direction. The movie is trying to deal with sentience of robots and it's a mixed bag. I want the idea to be done well. This is a second-rate attempt.

It borrows lots from previous sci-fi classics, The Matrix, Bladerunner, and Stepford Wives, etc.

The basic plot is good, direction is sound enough, some of the acting is a bit wooden, but, cut it some slack because, after all, it's a low budget movie.

Don't expect so much and this ok, not a classic, but watchable.