Diary of a Mad Housewife

Tina Balser (Carrie Snodgress) is a tired NYC housewife married to the demeaning pompous Jonathan (Richard Benjamin). He criticizes her on everything even in front of their two young impressionable daughters. At a party she got dragged to by her husband, she meets the arrogant chauvinistic writer George Prager (Frank Langella). She has an affair but George isn't much better than Jonathan. Essentially, I like Tina enough to watch this movie despite the annoying Jonathan and the callous George. This movie is a bit of a torture but it's a fascinating one. It's also a movie of its times. It was probably more compelling back in the day.

Carrie Snodgress (a very unattractive name for, at least in THIS film, an attractive woman) gives one of the great, edgy film performances of the early 70's. The early 70's seems to be when some of the best films in recent years were made. This story of a bored housewife in New York who has an affair with a young Frank Langella is rarely seen on TV but you should rent it as soon as possible and witness some great movie entertainment. Frank also gives one of his best performances in this. As a matter of fact, Frank, Carrie and Richard Benji haven't really made a film anywhere near as good as this since. Its been all downhill for the three of them since. Hopefully their careers will have good third acts, ya dig?

There are two different versions of this movie, one for t.v. and one on video. They're both the same length, but they are incredibly different in tone. On t.v., the movie is about a harried housewife who has a brief (mostly offscreen) affair as part of her attempt to make sense of her life. On video, the movie is a dark portrayal of an illicit affair, emphasizing the sexual dysfunctions of everyone involved. If one reads the book, it is clear that both versions are unsatisfying--the best solution is a "Director's Cut," like the one I made on my own, that incorporates all the scenes and brings the running time up to a tolerable 2 hrs even. This makes it an almost perfect adaptation of the book, and a very fulfilling movie. Here's hoping someone, someday, has the sense to release this great old film on DVD this way.

Career-defining roles for Carrie Snodgrass, Richard Benjamin and Frank Langella, as well as a wonderful blend of humor and drama.

And the little brats are just great: "Why, even the salad isn't normal--mooky oranges and cut up plants!"

If one were to make a list of the All-time Most Annoying Movie Characters, it would properly include only those whom we can enjoy as they annoy. They're the ones who cause you to smile as you squirm, not those who make you reach for the remote. Right alongside DeNiro's Rupert Pupkin, and Honey, as played by Sandy Dennis (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf), ranks Richard Benjamin as Jonathan Balser. His unctuous whine is the best reason to watch this period piece. Carrie Snodgress, as the brunt of his annoying personality, also does a fine job. Frank Langella, playing her lover, is a bit too unlikeable, but it only serves to heighten our empathy for the unfortunate heroine.

Carrie Snodgress is wistful, sad, conflicted, fed-up and funny playing harried NYC housewife on the verge of collapse; Richard Benjamin is her anal-retentive husband; and Frank Langella is her uncommitted lover. From Sue Kaufman's book, one of the funniest satiric novels of its era, comes this sometimes-surreal jumble by Frank Perry, who is so concerned with making a monster out of Benjamin's Jonathan that he in turn makes Snodgress' Tina look a little pathetic. The character was feistier in the book, with a (self-contained) deadpan sense of humor that Perry isn't quite able to replicate on film. This Tina has her moments--throwing her ruined Thanksgiving platter against the wall, berating Jonathan for making fun of her in front of the kids--and Snodgress is terrific, really the only reason to see the film. She overcomes the knockabout structure and obvious swipes at indifferent urbanites and makes something touching out of the material. I first saw this on television and admired a couple of scenes with Snodgress and her headstrong daughters (a beauty involved smacking her kid when she deserved it, and then going to apologize). I later rented the video and found a number of those scenes missing. Turns out they had been added to the network version to pad the picture's length from other cuts--mostly sexual ones involving Langella. This is a first: I liked the discards much better than what ended up in the actual movie. **1/2 from ****