SYNOPSICS
The Substitute Wife (1994) is a English movie. Peter Werner has directed this movie. Farrah Fawcett,Lea Thompson,Peter Weller,Karis Paige Bryant are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1994. The Substitute Wife (1994) is considered one of the best Drama,Romance,Western movie in India and around the world.
In Nebraska, in pioneer days, a woman who knows she is going to die asks a prostitute to replace her with her husband and four children in order to make it possible for them to keep their family farm.
Same Actors
Same Director
The Substitute Wife (1994) Reviews
A refreshing western with a difference....there's not a gun in sight
Why this movie isn't screened more often I can't understand. It was delicately and sensitively played by all the actors, and incorporated a gamut of emotions from comedy to pathos, but never becoming over-sentimental, gushy, or stodgy. The problems of males "getting spliced" on the Prairies in the mid 19th century, must have been difficult to solve at any time considering there were about ten men to one woman. For a widower with a bunch of kids in tow it would have been virtually impossible, particularly if he was a sod-buster...the lowest of the low in farming circles. This was beautifully and amusingly solved by the dying wife, by arranging impending nuptials between her soon to be bereaved husband and a whore looking for a way out of her present predicament. The film is strikingly, if not lavishly photographed, has an intelligent well crafted script, which makes all the points it can out of a rather thin plot, and some lovely accompanying music to boot. It may not appeal to others as much as it did to me, but it's well worth a watch, and I also think worthy of a place in anyone's library.
Not as deep as could have been, but original and intriguing
Imagine this. In a pioneer farm in the middle of nowhere in Nebraska, a women knows she is going to die in a few weeks because of a disease she has. She sets out to find another women to replace her with her husband and their four young children. Since there are six males for one female in that part of the country at that time, she has to fetch very far... and finally comes back with an aging prostitute (prostitutes start early to be aging...) who can't stand her life anymore. There is no other way for her husband to guarantee that he will be able to keep the family farm and their four children together after she dies. Sounds odd to you? Actually, this starting point leads to some "triangle" situations that are even more peculiar. I liked to watch how the plot developed; many situations are clearly not predictable, and you can't really guess the conclusion before it comes up. Granted, some aspects could have been developed more deeply, and you are left wondering about the realism of the story. For instance, how could the four children possibly react to such a situation? The movie doesn't really get into that. But then, it just preserves the unity of the plot, and you have more than enough watching how this courageous wife, this outsider women and this perplexed man-and-husband interact and work their way through this harsh and unusual situation. I think this film clearly deserves more than the 5.2 / 10 it currently displays on IMDB. I give it a strong 7.
Genuine humour prevails
When I saw this film televised on British TV, I enjoyed it so much that I tried to get a copy for 4 years. Eventually I managed to get a second hand copy - all this by a woman who has never bought a movie video in her life before. This film is extremely sad with amazingly funny moments interspersed. Just when you feel like crying over the sadness of the situation (the wife suffering badly and dying from cancer, watching her children interact with another woman, who appears stunning, glamorous and frustratingly desirable to her husband) a character will utter something that makes you roll about with laughter. The film isn't supposed to be realistic, it would never happen surely, but even so it makes a fine story line and does test your emotions in all directions. Don't take the film too seriously, take it as it comes and enjoy every moment. The male actor playing the husband is completely fantastic in his role. His expressions and wry comments have you fascinated from the word go. Get hold of a copy and enjoy a non-violent, entertaining tale of sadness, friendship and honour. PS: I'm NOT a woman who enjoys sloppy rubbish films, so don't write it off as a womans film!
How to find a wife for your husband in the middle of nowhere.
The movie is set in the harsh environment of Nebraska in the late 1800s. Amy Hightower (Lea Thompson) is a farmer's wife with four kids who learns she is going to die. Realizing how hard it would be on her husband and four children, she sets out to find a wife to replace her when she dies. Peter Weller plays the husband (Martin) in this heart warming movie. Amy searches for a wife but can only find an aging prostitute ( Farrah Fawcett) who wants to get out of the business to replace her. Once she brings back Pearl (Farrah Fawcett) to the farm the story really starts to unfold. This is not a family picture and it is a slow moving movie but it holds up well with a great story line. You find yourself amazed at how modern Amy is through-out this ordeal, especially when Martin gives in and sleeps with Pearl. This movie works because of the actors working so well together. This is one of those movies that you can acutely put yourself into. I really liked this movie and I think you will too.
A Poor Man's 'Sarah, Plain And Tall"
The reminded me of "Sarah, Plain And Tall" except with some sex (no nudity) and some questionable values. If you read a critic saying this film was "a good one for family values" disregard it because those idiots who have no clue what values are. "Family values" does not mean a married man sleeps with his wife AND another woman just because that woman was going to be his wife in the future after the current one died. Sorry if that sentence sounds confusing. Peter Weller, Lea Thompson and Farrah Fawcett won't be confused with the Glenn Close-Christopher Walken couple in "Sarah" but overall this is still a nicely-photographed, slow- moving decent story of generally good people. It's enough to make it a comparison to "Sarah" trilogy, which is a compliment, even if it isn't quite as good.