“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” is an old proverb that could serve as the most basic description of She-Devil, 1989 black comedy directed by Susan Seidelman. The film is based on The Life and Loves of She-Devil, popular 1983 novel by British author Fay Weldon. The script by Barry Strugatz and Mark R. Burns has the beginning of the plot set in Long Island where titular protagonist, overweight and unattractive housewife Ruth Patchett (played by Roseanne Barr) lives with her husband Bob (played by Ed Begley Jr.) and two children. Bob is an accountant who dreams of having celebrity clients and one evening during a party meets Mary Fisher (played by Meryl Streep), wealthy, glamorous and beautiful author of best-selling romance novels. He is immediately smitten by her and begins torrid affair, ultimately choosing to abandon Ruth and live with Mary in her luxurious mansion. When Ruth learns about his infidelity, she feels betrayed and humiliated and begins planning revenge, which would deprive Bob of his most precious “assets” – home, family, career and freedom. She does so by destroying her house, forcing her children to live with Bob and Mary and, ultimately, founds the employment agency specialised for unwanted, ignored and humiliated women who she would recruit as her personal army and use for her campaign.
Weldon’s novel was three years earlier adapted into four-part BBC miniseries, well-received by critics and lauded for being faithful to the source. Inevitable comparison between it and this film will clearly show how Hollywood, guided by commercial considerations, removed most of novel’s edgy content and made the film more “sugary” and mainstream. There is very little darkness in the film, Ruth isn’t as ruthless and amoral as in the novel and her vengeance ends not with destroying Mary but simply teaching her valuable lesson. Susan Seidelman, director famed for feminist comedy Desperately Seeking Susan could have gone the same route here and make the film truly subversive in context of conservative renaissance in Reagan’s America, but instead she apparently got seduced with large budget and paid much more attention to the display of rich and famous embodied in Mary and her kitschy palace. Film looks attractive and is further enhanced by atypical musical score by Howard Shore, but the quality of humour leaves much to be desired. She-Devil is made watchable by cast. Although Roseanne Barr, an experienced comedienne and star of popular sitcom Roseanne, does a good job and puts her unattractive look to good use, she is easily overshadowed by Meryl Streep who obviously relishes the opportunity to prove that she could be as good in comedic roles as in serious dramas. Although those two actresses appear together only in one scene, they are well-matched. The rest of the cast is solid, which includes Ed Begley Jr. as Ruth’s imperfect husband and Sylvia Miles as Mary’s cranky old mother. Linda Hunt is, on the other hand, wasted in the underdeveloped role of Ruth’s confederate. She-Devil is far from perfect and even more distant from novel’s reputation of feminist classic, but it could serve as passable entertainment, especially to fans of two main actresses.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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