The Politician's Wife

A brilliant performance by Juliet Stevenson is one of the highlights of this mini-series that studies the how to do "don't get mad get even" in British politics. How a scorned wife gets even with her husband SHOULD be a cliche, but a great script and good performances from all (incl. a small but pivotal role for Minnie Driver), moves it far away from cliche.

Juliet Stevenson delivers one of the best performances I've ever seen. The Politician's wife -- about an upper-crust British MP who has an affair with a pretty young thing (Minnie Driver!), and how his wife deals with it -- is an outstanding production. In this Blue Dress and Cigars age of American politics, I would think it would do very well over here. Unfortunately, aside from some brief play on PBS, it hasn't been given much exposure here. Direct plea to whomever holds the rights: if you can't release this in theaters (and you really ought to), please at least make the video available in the States.

Watching this miniseries, you might think it's a thinly veiled version of the Lewinsky scandal, but they made this British miniseries several years before the scandal broke. (I saw it when it was first aired on PBS here in Los Angeles and I kept having strange flashbacks to it throughout the impeachment hearings.) Not only do you have the blonde scorned wife (Juliet Stevenson -- amazing!) and the young brunette political intern (Minnie Driver), but it all unravels due to the lies that the politician tells his wife. The first half is her finding out exactly what's going on, and the second half is her Machiavellian revenge.

Flora (Juliet Stevenson) is the happy housewife to Conservative Minister of the Family Duncan Matlock (Trevor Eve). They seem to have a perfect family until the media descend on them about his affair. He reveals that he had an affair with assistant Jennifer Caird (Minnie Driver) but he claims that he was set up by the ex-escort and her husband. Flora's father is a senior political hand and expects her to be the stoic supportive wife for her husband's ambition to be Prime Minister. Duncan's aide Mark Hollister reveals that it was not a simple short fling.

Juliet Stevenson is great. Her character holds it back a little too long for my taste. I love "The Good Wife" and this hits some of the similar points. It's a good start. I would definitely have loved to see the story continue.

I'm not sure why the person who graded this a one star is so angry, or what axe they have to grind with the film, but it's best to disregard their review completely, for their drama and hysterics have absolutely no place in IMDb reviews.

I would guess they have a personal issue with the topic of cheating, given their angry one star review.

Clearly, others do not share in their opinion, as the film garnered awards at the 1996 BAFTA ceremonies and the film has a following, given it's incredible performances and beautifully shot scenes.

It's a great film and even viewing it in 2013, it's still up to date. It's a must-see for anyone who loves British political dramas. The acting is top notch and the plot is just...delicious!

10 out of 10 stars for me, but then again, I'm not bitter about being cheated on.

Cheers!