Subject: REVIEW: THE BUTCHER'S WIFE

From: pixar!good (If a seagull flies over the sea, what flies over the bay?)
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1991 16:31:25 GMT

[Followups directed to rec.arts.movies. -Moderator]

			    THE BUTCHER'S WIFE
		       A film review by Craig Good
			Copyright 1991 Craig Good

     THE BUTCHER'S WIFE is a romantic film based on the age-old conflict
between heart and head.  What isn't so old is the intriguingly-
structured plot which drops Demi Moore, as the butcher's wife, as a
pebble into a pond of characters.  She plays a clairvoyant who simply
tries to be helpful as she "sees what others want sometimes before they
know themselves."

     The pond is Greenwich Village in New York, and her innocence and
caring combine with her vision to instantly touch the hearts of a group
of people whose heads are all messed up.  The ripples in the pond
reflect back onto their psychiatrist, played by Jeff Daniels.  The main
conflict of the film then becomes that between the scientist and the
clairvoyant.  And so, naturally, does the main love story.

     But the cagey script also swirls with the interwoven love stories
of a dowdy music teacher, a soap opera actress, a shop keeper and a
teenage boy -- all of whom are Jeff Daniel's patients -- and of course
the butcher.  Following the advice of the butcher's wife feels right at
first and seems to make them all happy.  Then they find that it has
turned their world topsy-turvy.  Daniels' character winds up confused
and shaken to his core, and even Moore's character finds out something
about herself that she never suspected.  Since this is a romantic
comedy, after all, I'm spoiling nothing by telling you that it all works
out in the end , but the way and the speed with which the stories all
resolve is satisfying and sometimes surprising (in fact, this must be
about the shortest third act in modern film).

     Even if Demi Moore's accent doesn't quite hold up, the movie sure
does.  THE BUTCHER'S WIFE may not change your life, but go see it if you
want to spend some time with some engaging characters and enjoyable
performances.  And just in case you find yourself put off by the way
off-base reviews of a couple of guys from Chicago, let me quote the
butcher's wife herself: "What I say and what people hear aren't always
the same thing."

		--Craig