| She-Devil | |
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| Directed by | Susan Seidelman |
| Produced by | Jonathan Brett Susan Seidelman |
| Written by | Screenplay: Barry Strugatz Mark R. Burns Novel: Fay Weldon |
| Starring | Meryl Streep Roseanne Barr |
| Music by | Howard Shore |
| Cinematography | Oliver Stapleton |
| Editing by | Craig McKay |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 8, 1989 |
| Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
She-Devil is a 1989 American film starring Meryl Streep and Roseanne Barr. It was directed by Susan Seidelman. It is the second adaptation of the novel The Life and Loves of a She-Devil by British writer Fay Weldon, after a BBC TV adaptation was first broadcast in 1986.
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Ruth is a frumpy, overweight wife and mother, who tries desperately to please her husband Bob, an accountant trying to boost his business. After meeting Mary Fisher, a romance novelist, at a dinner party, they begin having an affair. Ruth, aware of the affair, confronts Bob about the affair while Bob's parents are visiting, which makes Bob leave her. As he is packing his suitcase, he explains to Ruth that his assets are his home, his family, his career, and his freedom. Mad with rage, Ruth vows to get revenge on him and Mary. Ruth writes a list titled "Bob's Assets," with the four assets that Bob stated. She crosses off each one when it is destroyed. With Bob away at Mary's and the kids at school, she proceeds to set the house on fire, which is destroyed in a gigantic explosion. She drops the children off with Bob (now living with Mary) and tells him that she won't be coming back. However, she is still working behind the scenes to destroy Bob's remaining assets. It is seen now that the second of Bob's assets, his family, is being destroyed as well, as the selfish Mary is inexperienced in raising children and seems unwilling to learn how to be a mother, which causes tension in her relationship with Bob.
Ruth takes a job at a nursing home under the pseudonym and disguise Vesta Rose. There she befriends Mary's estranged mother and arranges for her mother to return to Mary's life at a very inopportune moment. She also meets Nurse Hooper, a woman who has worked for the nursing home for 22 years and put aside her earnings for a considerable life savings. They form a partnership and start an employment agency for women who need a second chance. The employment agency is a success, and women who Ruth has helped assist her in getting revenge on Bob. Mary has written a new novel on her romance with Bob titled "Love in the Rinse Cycle", which her publisher considers strange and off putting, as there is a chapter about doing laundry and the protagonist's name is Bob, which is an odd name for romantic heroes. An attractive young woman applies to the agency, and Ruth finds her a position as Bob's secretary. He soon starts sleeping with her and several other women. When his secretary tells him she loves him, he dumps her. The secretary reveals to Ruth that Bob is guilty of embezzlement. Ruth exposes this to his superiors (as well as to the police); thus destroying his career. Mary's career is going downhill as well, as she is being interviewed for a puff piece by People Magazine, her mother reveals embarrassing secrets about Mary to the reporter like a child given up for adoption, which is then put in a future issue of People as "Dethroning the Queen of Romance". Bob throws a party for Mary to cheer her up, which is going well until the atmosphere is shattered when state troopers appear with a warrant for Bob's arrest. Bob's lawyer attempts to make a secret deal with a judge and blame the embezzlement on a computer bug, and unknowingly informs Mary that Bob stole a lot from her account. Mary tells Bob that she is leaving him. Bob realizes that what he did to Ruth has happened to him and that he has ended up with nothing because of his sinfulness. A woman who gained employment thanks to Ruth's agency as a court clerk pays Ruth back by reassigning Bob's case to an unbiased judge, thus removing the backhanded deal Bob and his lawyer planned. Bob is then convicted of embezzlement and sent to prison, thus destroying his fourth and final asset, his freedom. Meanwhile, Mary's novel fails but Ruth's business thrives. The story ends with the reunited family visiting Bob in prison, who has been greatly reformed and says he will soon be released from prison, after which he is looking forward to spending more time with Ruth and the children. Ruth ends by saying she does believe a person can repent as has Bob, but not everyone, as the final scene shows Ruth at a book signing for Mary's new novel (in which she tells all about her affair). Ruth asks Mary to make the autograph out to Ruth, and Streep does a double take. Next in line after Ruth is a man whom Mary clearly tries to become more personal with, indicating she has not changed her ways.
The film ends with Ruth, a smile on her face as she walks down a busy street in Manhattan, accompanied by the women from her firm.
The film received an unfavorable 41% "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 17 reviews.[1] Meryl Streep was nominated for the "Best Actress for a Musical or Comedy" Golden Globe in 1990.
A 1989 issue of Mad magazine was spoofing movie
reviews, in which "She-Devil" was one of them. The commentary said
that "the producers went out of their way for uglification.
Roseanne has a huge black mole on her cheek, as if the film was
trying to convince the audience she was unattractive next to
Meryl". The drawing shows an exploded house and a shocked Ed Begley
Jr. and Meryl Streep demanding an explanation from Roseanne: Meryl:
"You have blown up your husband's house, estranged his kids, and
worked to ruin him! Why are you doing this?"
Roseanne: "Well, two women in my group therapy
suggested it to me."
Meryl: "Who?!"
Roseanne: "Kathleen Turner and Glenn Close!"
The mention of Close and Turner were references to Fatal Attraction and War of the Roses. The spoof was also a crossover with Roseanne's sitcom husband John Goodman and their girths, where he is shown holding hands with Roseanne and saying to the reader "We have to hold hands. Otherwise one of these panels will fall right off your page", and showing Goodman looking at Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin in bed, a reference to Sea of Love, which premiered the same time as She-Devil.
The BBC TV version was somewhat different than the film. In the British version Ruth was also unattractive and overweight, but she began her revenge only after extensive efforts to keep her husband to herself; such as intensive exercise and plastic surgery in an effort to make herself more attractive like Mary. The American film had more subtle changes to Ruth's appearance, as it shows her going from a frumpy housewife to a self-confident business owner. Ruth trades in her glasses for contacts, has minor plastic surgery to remove her mole, and gets a trendier hairstyle and starts to wear more fashionable clothes.
She-Devil is a 1989 film about an awkward and fat mother (Ruth Patchett) who lives in the suburbs with her family. She becomes a monster seeking revenge after her husband (Bob Patchett) abandons her for a romance novelist (Mary Fisher).
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