The Rich Man’s Wife -

It’s obvious from watching The Rich Man’s Wife that it wants to be a better film…it tries hard, but just doesn’t make it. Halle Berry stars as Josie Potenza, the neglected wife of rich television bigwig Tony Potenza (Christopher McDonald). Tony drinks too much, has extramarital flings, and offers little love to his wife. Josie is fed up, and in a weak moment, vents her anger to psychopathic stranger Cole (Peter Greene). Cole takes that as an open invitation to intervene in the couple’s lives, just like the psycho in any “____ from Hell” film. The filmmakers attempt to throw in a few twists here and there to spice things up, but The Rich Man’s Wife continually returns to the standard formula. The twists, while good intentioned, end up being thrown in solely for the sake of having some twists, regardless of logic. The filmmakers could have put their talents to better use by tightening up the script, which gets very sloppy and unbelievable. Halle Berry looks nice, but isn’t a strong enough actress to carry the burden of this entire film. Peter Greene is so obvious a psycho that you wonder why Berry would talk to him, much less confide her deep dark secrets. You can tell that all involved with the film try hard…but the result falls pitifully flat.