Wifelike

With Shannon Whirry and Shannon Tweed at career peaks, softcore porn movies were the rage in the '90s, via VHS and Cinemax popularity. Hardcore porn, especially via internet distribution ended that era, but here's a throwback, made by indie filmmakers headed by James Bird whose pretentious "fantasy/surrealism" style comes off as precious and as artificial as his AI characters.

It was distressing to see British actor John Rhys Meyers descend so quickly into the career tailspin of a Malcolm McDowell (who he physically resembles) -moving from A pictures to grade Z level. His breathy line readings are extremely poor, and his overall sleepwalking performance made him seem like an AI himself. Why Bird decided on such a misogynist premise (no husband replacement studs for sale here) mystified me. And the casting was a bust, with lovely heroine Elena so closely resembling Twiggy of the Sixties, rather than going for a voluptuous softporn actress. Even the glamorous settings look like current porn, hardcore that is, where the expicit lovemaking is often photographed in fabulous mansions by directors like Jules Jordan or Kayden Kross.

I recall Paramount Home Video releasing plenty of drek in this vein way back when, but for current Paramount Pictures to indulge is disappointing. The sci-fi potential of the story is completely wasted. Obviously, it takes a big budget to do a "Blade Runner", but the aspirations here are embarrassing.

Released earlier in the year, Wifelike is not the typical human/robot type film. It does contain interesting ideas but overall, it seems like it tries being more clever than it should be. And taking itself a little more serious.

Elena Kampouris is the clear standout here where from her opening appearance, we get a sense as to how this may unfold.

The film is definitely engaging and not boring with its constant turns and several twists but it's climax isn't great. The end twist is quite predictable where there were a lot of clues along the way.

Otherwise Wifelike is solid but don't expect another Ex Machina.

Basically soft core porn with a plot and a used-to-be actor, Meyers Story moves really slow and isn't thought provoking at all. Concept is good but film lacks any grit. Given the guy's job, there are some tragically missed opportunities. Could have been a really great, gritty, dark film... but the whole thing looks like it was filmed in a dentists office. There's no real sci-fi aesthetic and costuming looks like it was by actor's choice. Dialogue is robotic (& without irony) and the characters meant to be mysterious are laughable. Way too slow in all developments. Had potential but unfortunately falls short. All that said, it's watchable.

Look, this wasn't a terrible movie. It was fun. It kept my interest enough to care about what happens. I loved the wardrobe, sets, and futuristic aesthetics! The setting was a believable future.

The acting was good from most of the cast. Elena Kampouris was fantastic as a robotic wife. I'm wondering if some CGI trickery was involved because she's so beautiful. Almost too perfect.

And the movie started off well... but then the plot kind of went off the rails. Some big holes, more questions than answers, a little sloppy. I think it was meant to present the viewer with moral, philosophical conundrums but they got lost along the way in the foggy plot.

Also, maybe it's just how I was reading it... but there was a theme that felt man-hatey or like the demonization of men on a biological level. If so, that I didn't care for.

Nevertheless, out of all the movies of this type in recent years, I liked this one not best but amongst the better of them. It's worth the hour and 45 minutes to see what you get out of it.

Wifelike is a company which creates robots sold to men to be obedient sexy wives. William Bradwell (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is purchasing Meredith (Elena Kampouris) to replace his late wife. He works for the company. Ironically, she was an advocate against the company.

This has the potential of an interesting sci-fi movie, but it struggles to get away from the 90's late night cable softcore porn feel. Kampouris plays an awkwardly submissive robot. There are some issues with the premise construction. It seems crazy to have a dream mode for robots. It makes no sense. I don't mind the twist in the movie, but it could be done better. I have a better twist. Meredith could be the real person under some sort of mind control. Maybe implant a chip in her brain and come at the premise from that direction. The movie is trying to deal with sentience of robots and it's a mixed bag. I want the idea to be done well. This is a second-rate attempt.