This movie was an entertaining, engrossing way to spend a couple of hours in the middle of the night, though it is more like an episode of Alfred Hitchcock presents than a fully developed dramatic piece. The plot is more like an exercise for straw men (and women) than a realistic slice of life, but if you look at it in that fashion, it is enjoyable.
I found the movie more humorous than other reviewers have indicated. The idea that a man could seriously believe that killing his wife is more merciful than subjecting her to the indignity of divorce is intrinsically tongue-in-cheek. Patricia Clarkson was superb in the part of Pat, the not-so-innocent wife.
Also worth noting is the way Richard, played by Pierce Brosnan, mouths the same platitudes to each character in succession, all while maintaining a look of utter innocence. Then Kay, the Hitchkockian-blond girlfriend, parrots his words right back to her unsuspecting married lover, played with an air of hangdog desperation by Chris Cooper. One wonders what Kay sees in him -- he looks old enough to be her grandfather and seems to be in a permanent funk.
Most ridiculously is the way that all the characters live happily (or at least placidly) ever after, with all the protagonists, and other unidentified friends, getting together for a rousing game of charades.
I found the movie more humorous than other reviewers have indicated. The idea that a man could seriously believe that killing his wife is more merciful than subjecting her to the indignity of divorce is intrinsically tongue-in-cheek. Patricia Clarkson was superb in the part of Pat, the not-so-innocent wife.
Also worth noting is the way Richard, played by Pierce Brosnan, mouths the same platitudes to each character in succession, all while maintaining a look of utter innocence. Then Kay, the Hitchkockian-blond girlfriend, parrots his words right back to her unsuspecting married lover, played with an air of hangdog desperation by Chris Cooper. One wonders what Kay sees in him -- he looks old enough to be her grandfather and seems to be in a permanent funk.
Most ridiculously is the way that all the characters live happily (or at least placidly) ever after, with all the protagonists, and other unidentified friends, getting together for a rousing game of charades.