She-Devil (1989)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Mary Fisher	Meryl Streep
Ruth Patchett	Roseanne Barr	½
Bob	Ed Begley Jr.
Hooper	Linda Hunt
Mrs. Fisher	Sylvia Miles
Garcia	A Martinez	½
Olivia Honey	Maria Pitillo	½

Review

She-Devil has an interesting premise with interesting casting choices, teaming up Roseanne Barr and Meryl Streep in roles that they both would consider different challenges at this stage in their careers. The film wants to be a quirky combination of comedy and feminism, but is only mildly successful in that matter. For the most of the time, director Susan Seidelman cannot lift the situations she presents to anything more than a predictable farce, because just like many of the supporting performances, the script is over-the-top in a non-charming way. That is not to say that She-Devil isn't a film one can enjoy at some level. In segments, it touches a fascinating female liberation vein that can be both uplifting and maybe give guys a thing or two to think about. Ruth Patchett is no Nora Helmer, but there are lightweight situations that are both funny and clever. Unfortunately, the fun dries up a bit too soon. Towards the end, the film rests mostly on Streep's accomplished performance. She has fun with a part that, to be honest, is more a caricature of the blasé romance novelist than it is a interpretation of a human being.