The Good Wife

I saw this movie for the second time again after having seen it when it first came out in 1987. I enjoyed it just as much now as I did then. The characters are interesting and thought-provoking especially the main character, Marge Hills played by Rachel Ward. It's about a woman who lives in a small town in Australia ca.1939. She has a loving husband but feels that life is passing her by and that exciting things only happen to other people. Enter Sam Neill. He comes to town and things change drastically for her. I felt sorry for her character which rapidly becomes pathetic. This is a movie for people who don't need a whole lot of action and special effects. I also liked seeing Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward teamed up again. The first time was in The Thorn Birds where I believe they actually met and, sometime afterward, eventually got married.

'The Good Wife' is for those who like films that focus on an obscure little corner of the world and look at the feelings and foibles of the people therein. This time the camera is aimed at a small Australian town in 1939, where Marge Hills (Rachel Ward) feels that life is passing her by despite her work as a midwife and marriage to a loving husband. Nothing exciting ever happens to her, she thinks, and her attempts to make something happen get her into all sorts of small-town trouble.

Rachel Ward is such a beauty and has such a presence that I probably would have been content to watch her putter around the kitchen for ninety minutes at this stage of her career. Anyone familiar with Bryan Brown's work will not be surprised to hear that he is excellent in the role of Sonny, the husband. Steven Vider is also very good as Sugar, Sonny's younger brother, a youth so callow that he asks his brother if it's OK to sleep with his wife. Sam Neill is the newcomer to town whose attention Marge tries so desperately to get. A lot of people would describe this as a "little" film but I got more enjoyment out of it than many of its bigger brethren.

"The Good Wife" is a film that seems to have a lot of quiet seductive power.... the story itself, which I found only minimally absorbing, is also somewhat lame and perhaps a bit goofy (Marge, a married woman, played by Rachel Ward, feels bored and unfulfilled in her rural Australian setting and first sleeps with her husband's younger brother, then begins to lust after a local barman played by Sam Neill...). However, the atmospheric setting, the scenery, the cinematography, the costumes, the characters, the enchanting background music - well, just about ALL elements of the film, are so rich and vibrant that they suck you right in, and more than make up for the rather daft story line.

Hence, "The Good Wife" is that sort of movie where you end up caring about the fates of the various players. You actually care about the denouement of the movie, because as the story unfolds, you really do start to care about the players as human beings, and you can't help but become interested in their individual destinies.

The creators of the film did an excellent job of recreating the look and feel of the time period of the story, which is set in 1939 Australia. I especially like the attention given to minute details that help to establish time and place and also give the movie a rich and full-bodied flavor. The eye-candy cinematography is just spectacular. This is easily one of the most "beautiful" movies I've ever seen. I'm glad I taped this movie off of a cable showing on TV. I will definitely be watching this one again!!

This movie has a lot of lessons in it. Its the type of film that you watch and get inspired by over and over. Simple yet majestic. Chilling. Filled with events that wont let you indifferent. If anyone knows a similar one, let me know

Are we really to believe that Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown (actually man and wife) are unhappy. And let the brother in law 'have a go'. And she starts after the new landlord after zero conversation or rapport?

This appears to have been written by someone who doesn't understand how marriages of relationships work. Should this have been written with the wife as being sex/affection starved or nymph, would it have worked better.

The attraction to the barman didn't work, so neither did the ending.

The cast was great but BB should have been the barman.