Name: The Wife
Genre: Drama
Released: 2017-08-17
Duration: 100 min
Rating: 7.1
Cast: Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce, Christian Slater, Max Irons, Harry Lloyd

4 quotes

The Wife

The Greater Woman Behind the Great Man

Taglines Behind any great man, there's always a greater woman

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Wife

Struggles of Partnership and Recognition in Marriage

Joe Castleman Listen, Joanie. Listen, there is nothing horrible, or shameful, or immoral about what we do. We're writing partners. And as we've created a beautiful body of work together...

[fixes himself a drink]

Joan Castleman You edit, Joe. That's all you do. I'm the one who sits at that desk eight hours a day.

Joe Castleman Is that the way you see it? Really? What, all these years, you've been sitting in some giant store of resentment? And what about all the years I've been uh, rubbing your back, bringing you tea, cooking you dinner, watching the kids so you could work without distraction? You don't think that with times when it killed me, that you were the one with the golden touch? You think I wake up every morning feeling even remotely proud of myself? But have I ever said "I'm done with this marriage. I'm walking away?

Joan Castleman No, you had affairs.

Joe Castleman Oh God... And I've regretted every fucking one of them!

[sighs]

Joan Castleman Oh, yeah, right. You'd sob in my lap, and you'd beg me to forgive you, and I always would because, you know, somehow you convinced me that my talent made you do it.

Joe Castleman Oh, shit...

[sighs]

Joan Castleman And then when I was too angry or too furious or too hurt to write you it, give me one of your famous back rubs and you'd say "Use it, Joanie. Use it.

Joe Castleman I never said that.

Joan Castleman Oh, yes you did.

Joan Castlemann Yes you did! Lucky for me I had somewhere to put it. I mean, critics love the image of Sylvia Fry, you know, scrubbing the tear stains out of her dress. They just love that, another Castleman masterpiece. Your chest had swelled when you read me those reviews. It actually swelled. And rather than being outraged, and rather than thinking about what this all was doing to our kids, I would watch you and I'd say "Oh my God, how can I - how can I capture that - that behaviour? How can I put all that in words?" And you know what? I did. I did right here. Right here. Yeah, another Castleman masterpiece. Oh, and uh, let's see. Uh, this one I wrote after you screwed uh, who was it? Oh yeah, our third nanny!

[walks over to a small shelf of Castleman books; takes out a book; throws it on the ground; throws it on the ground]

Joe Castleman God. This book has nothing at all to do with the fucking nanny!

[picking up the books]

Joan Castleman Oh, yes it did. It's on every single page.

Joe Castleman These are my stories. My culture, my family, my ideas!

Joan Castleman My words! My pain! My spending hours alone in that room turning your appalling behaviour into literary gold!

[furiously throwing all the books on the ground]

Joe Castleman What compelling ideas did you ever fucking have?! You were nothing but a privilege, prissy little co-ed! The only decent story you ever wrote alone was about Carol! You stole from my life even then!

Joan Castleman Shame on you, Joe.

[pause. Tearfully turning away]

Joe Castleman You loved holding up in the village with the big bad Jew, huh? You loved making your parents skirm. You got the literary life, and the house by the sea, hm? You loved getting the nice clothes and the travel and all the privileges without ever having to marry some schmuck from a brokerage firm! You got it all, my girl!

Joan Castleman Well, you can have it back. I don't want it.

Joe Castleman What are you doing?

Joan Castleman I'm uh, spend the night in David's room and then when I get home, I'm gonna call a lawyer.

Joe Castleman This is ridiculous. Joanie, we got kids, hm? We got a grandchild. We've got friends we've known for years who are gonna start dying on us one by one. Where you gonna be, hm? You're gonna be living alone feeling brave? Is that what you want? Joanie, don't walk away from me-- DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME, GODDAMMIT!

Joan Castleman Don't touch me!

Joe Castleman Don't touch you?! Joanie, we gotta talk this through!

Joan Castleman I can't do it anymore, Joe. I can't do it. I can't take it. I can't take the humiliation of holding your coat and arranging your pills, and picking the crumbs out of your beard, and being shoved aside with all the other wives to talk about some goddamn shopping trip, while you, while you say to all the, the gathering sycophants, that your wife doesn't write?! Your wife! Who just won the Nobel Prize?!

Joe Castleman So, if I'm such an insensitive and talentless fucking piece of shit. Why the fuck did you marry me? Hm?

Joan Castleman Oh God, Joe...

[tearfully laughs]

Joe Castleman No, I really wanna know. Why did you marry me?

Joan Castleman ... I don't know. I can't think anymore...

[tearfully]

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Wife

Unspoken truths hidden in plain sight

Taglines Secrets lie between the lines.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Wife

Accusations of Smoking Among Family Members

David Castleman What? What?

[short pause]

Joe Castleman You've been smoking pot.

[realising]

David Castleman No I haven't.

Joe Castleman Yes you have! I can... You reek of it!

[grabs David by the arm, he hits it away]

Joan Castleman Joe, calm down.

Joe Castleman No, no, no, no. Look at him. Oh my God, the kid's completely stoned!

David Catleman Oh, I guess I'm a real embarrassment to you, huh, pop?

Joe Castleman What kind of hostile crap is that?

Joan Castleman Joe. David, what's going on?

[sighs]

David Catleman I don't know, mom. I'm trying to figure out if I've been worshipping at the wrong parental shrine.

Joe Castleman What the hell are you talking about? What are you talking about?! Oh my God, the kid's in a mess. What are we gonna do with him?

[pause]

David Castleman Nope, I'm not a pronoun, pop. I'm standing right here.

Joe Castleman Well than talk to me for Christ's sake!

Joan Castleman Don't shout at him.

Joe Castleman Yes, I will! We're late! We're supposed to be in the limo, and already he's spoiling my night with his fucking bullshit--

David Castleman Is it?!

Joe Castleman Is it what?!

David Castleman Your night?! Because according to your biographer this could all be some brilliant fraud.

Joe Castleman What biographer?

David Castleman That guy on the plane, with the glasses and the hair. Andy Warol with--

Joan Castleman Nathaniel Bone?! He's not my fucking biographer! What are you talking about?!

David Castleman Well, he was in the bar last night.

Joan Castleman What did he say to you?

David Castleman He said that I shouldn't measure myself against my venerable father's success because there is in fact a theory, that you, my mother, the real genius of the family.

Joan Castleman That's ridiculous.

David Castleman Why would he make such a twisted thing up?

Joe Castleman David, he's out to get me, cause I won't authorise his hack-job on my life. Don't be an idiot, David.

David Castleman I'm not an idiot!

Joe Castleman All right.

David Castleman Why would you call me that?!

Joe Castleman Okay, calm down.

David Castleman But of course, if what he said is true, than I really really would be a fucking idiot wouldn't I?!

Joe Castleman David, look I hate to state the obvious, but I think the pot is making you paranoid.

David Castleman I'm not fucking paranoid!

Joan Castleman David, Nathaniel Bone is an insidious man. He had no business saying those kinds of things to you.

David Castleman He said you had a drink with him too. Did you?