Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

good back-story, and good acting

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

I guess the thing that strikes me about this film is that a couple decades earlier there was a film called "9 to 5" about three working ladies who had a conniving boss. They put their heads together and overcome his scheming to benefit all. And yet this film, for all the similarities in terms of the number of lead women, their commonality of circumstance and so forth, their solution only benefits them and others like them.The other thing that hit me while watching this film is that it wasn't that funny. It was amusing in parts, it moved well, was well acted, had a decent story, but there wasn't much comedy in it. There really weren't too many clever and unexpected moments that typically make an audience laugh in the theatre. And that's the thing that's been missing from a lot of film since the early 80s. Truly. No joke.It was nice to see Keaton, Midler, and Hawn in a very energetic film, but the script wasn't that funny. In fact it was hardly funny at all. I can't help but think of "9 to 5" again when Parton leans out from the trunk of Tomlin's car with a dead body and says "Judy, could you come here for a minute?" with a knowing bright eyed grin. That's comedy. That's humor. That's funny. But "First Wives Club"?"First Wives Club" is about revenge and empowerment of wives who were dumped for younger men. Not having been married, also being a male, I have to say that I'm not the target audience for this thing, but even if I were I think the film could have been broader reaching in appeal. We've all been taken advantage of. It's a universal truth about both sexes. And that's the missed golden opportunity here that this film missed out on; i.e. these women may have been victims because they were married to these guys, but surely their ill behavior affected more than just them, and that any justice served by the three women would be a universal blow for all who were mistreated by these ex-husbands.But that isn't what we get, and so the film falls flat on that score, but manages to eek out a few smiles and nods of agreement among divorced women. The film has a certain zest to it, but it's not a very well written script. Or, better yet, the scripts focus of whom to allow to identify with these characters is way too narrowly focused, and needed a major rewrite to show the suffering from husbands with flawed characters is not just "a ladies' thing", so to speak.Maybe give it a shot if you have nothing better to do (as I did), but there are better films out there.

The First Wives Club (1996): Dir: Hugh Wilson / Cast: Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, Diane Keaton, Maggie Smith, Elizabeth Berkley: An ugly creation of retaliation where the sympathetic wives are as ruthless as their cheating husbands. Three women are dumped by their husbands for younger women, and after a fourth woman commits suicide over her break-up, they band together seeking justice. They form The First Wives Club for battered wives. Goldie Hawn plays an actress down on her luck and resorting to alcohol. Bette Midler eats away her frustration. Diane Keaton is in denial. Good background heads to formula and an ending that justifies revenge. This sort of theme worked much better in the comedy Nine to Five where three female office workers retaliated against their sexist boss. Here it just comes across as merely a lash out at men, as if they are all this bad. Hugh Wilson does a fine job directing but his Police Academy is far more funnier. On the plus side there is fine comic chemistry between the three leading ladies but the husbands are merely props. Elizabeth Berkley plays an underage brainless actress who lives with one of the cheaters. There is a message that many viewers may relate to when it comes to abandoned wives and husbands seeking younger women. The film is great to look at with its stunning art direction that makes the club worth entry. Score: 6 ½ / 10

I just finished watching The First Wives Club on HBO for the hundredth time. I absolutely love the movie. I love the team work. It's so nice to have a movie where the women are not jealous of each other and trying to bring each other down. The soundtrack is fantastic as well. As a child of divorce who watched her father move on to another woman and leave his family to flounder while he prospered, I totally understand the need of the women to make their husbands understand the damage they've done.The First Wives Club is a feel good movie that entertains and motivates you to rise above your problems to do good for others.

A goofy comedy designed as a star vehicle for its three leading ladies, Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton and Bette Midler.Is it a good movie? Not really. But does that matter? Not really. It mostly succeeds based on the sheer talent of the three actresses involved, who could probably make a movie about the invention of barbed wire funny if they had to.I don't know that this movie presents a very flattering image of middle-aged women, but since middle-aged women seem to be the ones who most love this film, if they don't mind, why should I? Grade: B