The Boss' Wife

I had never heard about this 1986 comedy from writer and director Ziggy Steinberg prior to sitting down and watching it for the first time here in 2024. In fact, I didn't even know who was starring in it when I opted to watch it.

The storyline in "The Boss' Wife" was mediocre. I can't claim that I was particularly entertained throughout the course of the 83 minutes that the movie ran for. The narrative was bland and sort of devoid of comedy, and that made sitting through the movie not a particularly enjoyable thing.

Something that spoke in favor of the movie was the cast ensemble. There were some good talents on the cast ensemble, just a shame that they had so little to work with. The movie had the likes of Daniel Stern, Fisher Stevens, Martin Mull, Robert Costanzo and Christopher Plummer on the cast list.

Sure, "The Boss' Wife" was watchable, but it was also a very forgettable movie. And come tomorrow, I am sure that the movie has faded from my memory already. And this is definitely not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time.

My rating of this lackluster comedy from 1986 lands on a very generous four out of ten stars.

Joel Kiefer (Stern) gets the chance to move up, he has the knowledge but doesn't really feel at home in the snobbish world of his big boss Mr Roalvang (Plummer).

However, if he wants to have a chance at the big promotion, he will have to adapt, otherwise the promotion is in danger of being given to his colleague who is only too eager to move up at all costs.

During a luxurious outing organized by Mr Roalvang, they get the chance to prove themselves.

It won't be easy for Joel, his wife doesn't want to come at first, her boss (the sleezy photographer Carlos) who likes to photograph people with angry expressions on their faces also gets involved and if that's not enough, sexy Mrs Roalvang tries to seduce Joel while her husband is present.

Arielle Dombasle plays the seductive Mrs Roalvang wonderfully, but the most hilarious role goes to Fischer Stevens as Carlos.

This mix produces some fun and hilarious scenes, everyone plays their part well and the 80s atmosphere is very much present.

All in all a nice comedy that is easy to watch.

Like any other good farce, the characters in this film represent extremes: the boss (Plummer) is REALLY eccentric and REALLY blind to his wife's behavior; his wife (Dombasle) is RELENTLESSLY seductive and sexual; the photographer (Delgado) sees the EXTREME anger he deliberately arouses in people as affirmation of his art; Daniel Stern is climbing the walls to have sex with his wife (Mayron), but can't, since they have to wait until she's at her most fertile (making the advances on him by Dombasle that much funnier, since he has no choice but to resist her constantly); Martin Mull is the CONSUMMATE yes-man, clawing his way up the corporate ladder. Character development? Who needs it? THE BOSS' WIFE isn't trying to be CITIZEN KANE; it's just a very funny movie. And it's NOT slapstick, despite what others might tell you.

Joel Keefer (Daniel Stern) and Janet Keefer (Melanie Mayron) are a married couple having trouble conceiving. He's a busy low level stockbroker. Louise Roalvang (Arielle Dombasle) is the wife of the boss Mr. Roalvang (Christopher Plummer) who loves image above skills. Tony Dugdale (Martin Mull) is the top analyst despite his incompetence due to Roalvang loving his hair. Joel takes on Tony which gets heated when a department head job opens up. They are going to a resort to battle it out. Carlos Delgado (Fisher Stevens) is an outrageous experimental artist.

This comedy starts fine. I like the couple initially but he starts to annoy me over time. I generally like Daniel Stern, but he is too bumbling and he's a big jerk to Janet in one scene. If he's being idiotic, there's less reason to pick him for the job. He is still much better than the annoying Fisher Stevens. This comedy rises and falls on Joel's likeability. I don't think I like him. He needs to be much nicer to Janet.

The Boss' Wife is one of a very long line of 80's sex comedy farces, in which the title and poster told you everything you needed to know. These movies always had a nymphomaniac woman who seems hell bent on coming onto an average Joe type character. With the added complication that the guy was married, she was or both are in this movie. And she is obviously his bosses wife, further adding to the tension and providing the name of the movie.

The narrative is obvious, a guy has a promotion on the line and his boss has invited him to a social weekend to talk business, but the bosses wife has other ideas. This is your typical farce type of humour, much like that found in Frasier, of ridiculous situations, in that case of a sexual nature. This movie is so cliched that you even know exactly what moves the bosses wife will try on the average joe character while seated at the dinner table. There is some nudity thrown in, some bad accents and uncomfortable scenes, however it does actually fire along at a face pace. Its very much a movie of its time and there is no pretence its anything other than advertised. Its an average 80's movie that has the feel of a TV movie, particularly as the opening credits roll with a font I haven't seen since Heart to Heart. Watchable if you want to watch an 80's movie about a nymphomaniac bosses wife from the 80's, because that is exactly what it is.