Complaints about lack of originality in Hollywood films are nothing new, but in the old days Hollywood, even when using unoriginal material, produced better quality than today. One such example could be found in The Woman in Red, 1984 romantic comedy written and directed by Gene Wilder, which was based on popular 1976 French film Un éléphant ça trompe énormément (also known as Pardon Mon Affaire).
Wilder plays protagonist, middle-aged San Francisco advertising executive Theodore “Teddy” Pierce. The plot begins with him on the ledge of high rise apartment building and through flashbacks and narration Teddy explains how he came to this point. It all began four days earlier when he saw immensely beautiful woman (played by Kelly LeBrock) having her red panties exposed due to gust of wind from ventilation grate. Teddy soon realises that the woman is named Charlotte and does some work as model for his agency. Although he is married to loving wife Didi (played by Judith Ivey), with whom he has children, he immediately tries to have romantic relationship with Charlotte. His efforts, aided by four loyal friends, at first go nowhere and nearly lead to disaster when his plain-looking colleague Ms. Milner (played by Gilda Radner) mistakenly starts believing that she is the object of his affection.
Wilder’s script doesn’t include anything particularly original and this is best illustrated by the most iconic scene, more than obviously inspired by the similar scene featuring Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch. However, the cliched and farcical story about one man’s midlife crisis is presented well thanks to his direction. Wilder puts San Francisco locations to good use and the cast is even better. Wilder himself is incredibly effective in the role of man who seems tortured for his failure to reconcile romantic fantasies and family duties with often prosaic realities. Actors playing his friends are also very good, especially Joseph Bologna as equally neurotic man who sees nothing contradictory in worshipping his wife and hitting on any pretty woman in his site; Charles Grodin is also great in the role of a friend who hides very personal secret. Gilda Radner, who, ironically, became Wilder’s real life wife during production, shines in her seemingly thankless role and it is shame that the script doesn’t use her character more. Kelly LeBrock is also put to good use, although her look, which made her the ultimate sex symbol of mid 1980s, is definitely more impressive than her acting ability. The Woman in Red benefits from quick pace and short running time, which allows audience to disregard some of this film’s problems. They might be found in undeveloped subplot dealing with Pierce’s teenage daughter and her creepy boyfriend, played by Michael Zorek; or in the last part of the film, which seems little rushed and uninspired. The Woman in Red was nevertheless popular at the box office, partly due to soundtrack by John Morris and songs by Steview Wonder, including “I Just Called to Say I Love You”, which won Oscar for Best Original Song and turned out to be the biggest hit in that musician’s career. The Woman in Red features brief scene in which Kelly LeBrock appears semi-nude and, being one of the first films with PG-13 rating, gives good insight into how that rating and Hollywood censorship standards used to be considerably less puritan than they are now. Although hardly among the best or the most memorable films of the decade, it is entertaining enough to be recommended even to those not particularly nostalgic towards 1980s.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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