Review: 'A Beautiful Wife' is intricately convoluted

Film: A Beautiful Wife (La mujer de mi hermano) (A)
Cast: Barbara Mori, Christian Meier, Manolo Cardona, Beto Cuevas, Bruno Bichir, Angelica Aragon
Director: Ricardo De Montreuil
Rating: **

This film was released way back in 2006, and the only reason why it finds itself on Indian screens now is because it stars Barbara Mori.

Forgotten her? She is the actress who co-starred with our very own Hrithik Roshan in that debacle called Kites.

The film that was meant to be a launch pad for a promising career ended up as her swan song. Mori hasn’t found any takers in India for her brand of beauty after that.

The people who are releasing A Beautiful Wife had expected Kites to do well and wanted to cash in on Mori’s expected fan following thereafter. But the Kites debacle left them with little option but to release the film and hope it does well for at least its steamy content.

Married to rich businessman Ignacio (Meier) for the last 10 years, Zoe (Mori) suddenly realises her marriage lacks passion and is contemplating the possibility of finding those sexual qualities she seems altogether fired up about in her husband’s brother, an artist, Gonzalo (Cardona).

Their affair rocks the foundations of their family. Secrets tumble out and complications abound.

The plot is so intricately convoluted that it begins to represent a soap more than a film. In fact, this sort of story could comfortably fill in 13 episodes of a family drama. Revenge, passion, love — the emotions overflow.

Madness and guilt find centre stage in a story that puts the lead characters in one predicament after another. The film tackles everything from adultery to incest to abortion and homosexuality, within the span of nearly a year in the lives of its characters.

The resultant 89 minute runtime thus appears overcrowded. It’s a syrupy melodrama with a small-screen cast and lacks big-screen affability.

Screenwriter Jaime Bayly's adaptation of his own novel has far too much plot and very little sustenance. Ricardo de Montruil adopts a polished approach while telling this story. The unfortunate part is the overindulgence with superficiality and titillation and a distinct lack of psychological depth in the plotting.

The major pluses are an enchanting score from Angelo Milli and some visual eye candy from Andres E Sanchez. But that does not include Barbara Mori, who is forgettable!