She-Devil (1989)

	Directed by: Susan Seidelman	COUNTRY USA GENRE Comedy/Drama NORWEGIAN TITLE Hunndjevelen RUNNING TIME 99 minutes
	Produced by: Jonathan Brett Susan Seidelman
	Written by (based on a novel by Fay Weldon): Barry Strugatz

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 regard. For the most part, 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 an often unappealing way. That is not to say that She-Devil isn't a film to be enjoyed on some level. In segments, it touches a fascinating female-liberation vein that can be both uplifting and may give guys a thing or two to think about. Ruth Patchett is no Nora Helmer, but there are a few lightweight situations that are both funny and clever. Unfortunately, the fun dries up too soon. Towards the end, the film rests mostly on Streep's accomplished performance. She has fun with a part that, unfortunately, is more a caricature of the blasé romance novelist than a true rendition of a human being.