Procura-se

This move was a project of Kiefer's that he really believed in. Then the editors got a hold of it and butchered it quite badly. Kiefer pulled his name from the credits and that is why you see Smithee's name as director. His mother, Shirley Douglas, is listed very high in the opening credits, but in the cut version, you never see her. The author also has a small part and it was also cut. I have to agree with the previous comment that the DVD, and the version you see on the television now, is the cut version. I also notice there is a very large discrepancy of pricing in the VHS versions. I am myself looking for the uncut version, as I have not yet seen it. I am a huge Kiefer fan, and have talked to him personally about this film. Over the years he has allowed his name back on the credits, but still feels bad over what happened

"Woman Wanted" tells of a domestic (Hunter) who is accepted for employment in a household consisting of a father (Moriarty) and son (Sutherland) who have deep, long held issues. With her infectious smile and delicately assertive presence, Hunter increases the wattage in the household lights and the men's hearts. Critically slammed, this character study film will likely find its narrow audience among those who can identify with the principles..the brittle, temperamental poet and the professorial elder intellectual. Hunter is always good but, IMHO, Moriarty stole this show.

Shirley Douglas, the actress playing "Peg" is actor/director Keifer Sutherland's mother! I discovered this doing a cross check. Douglas played on "The Hat Squad" a series that didn't last a whole season. But when viewing a bio on her it revealed that she was Keifer's mother so I checked to see if there were any matches and to this movie I came!

I was pretty surprised to find this in the video store as it seemed like it might be an obscure film. I read Kiefer Sutherland has since removed his name from the director credits, replaced by infamous Alan Smithee, and after watching this, I can see why. "Woman Wanted" is full of promise but suffers from poor emotional pacing, and poor editing. It takes a moment to sometimes realize the scene you are watching takes place some time after the previous scene, giving no indication to the amount of time passage as the characters grow to know each other. As a result, emotional developments seem awkward and at times, unmotivated, or just plain unbelievable. Holly Hunter just seemed flat the whole film through, and Kiefer Sutherland, seemly to have miscast himself, plays Wendell like he is six years old. What is with the Christopher Robin look? I think if more screen time had been allowed to show the emotional attachments develop, and better editing cues to herald the passage of time, the emotions the actors portrayed would have seemed more believable. I would love to see Kiefer to continue honing his directorial skills, but he still has some learning to do...consider this effort one of his film school kindergarten projects.

Holly Hunter is skilful and charming as always, and Kiefer Sutherland is better than usual. Michael Moriarty is sufficiently different from his "Law and Order" role (the only thing from which I really know him) that I can see he's a capable actor, not just a TV character. But everyone's performance is perhaps a bit too unmodulated, with too constant a tone from start to finish. I also had trouble believing the sudden romance than blooms between Moriarty and Hunter. And the Billy Eckstine version of "Everything I Have Is Yours" that plays over the closing credits is such a clash with the flavor of the rest of the movie.

I found the ending a bit disturbing, though. I'm not giving anything away that's not already in the IMDB plot summary, but I couldn't help wondering how this odd family would make out, with a newborn that could belong either to Moriarty or Sutherland. Will they teach the child that Sutherland is the father and Moriarty as the grandfather, or that Sutherland is the half-brother and Moriarty is the father? Perhaps not a stressful as "my sister AND my daughter," but awkward nonetheless. Sounds not like the end of the story but the beginning of another one.