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The First Wives Club
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The First Wives Club (1996) More at IMDbPro »

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The First Wives Club (1996) -- Reunited by the death of a college friend, three divorced women seek revenge on the husbands who left them for younger women.
The First Wives Club (1996) -- Sinematurk - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
5.6/10   13,857 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Olivia Goldsmith (novel)
Robert Harling (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for The First Wives Club on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
20 September 1996 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Getting even... this fall. more
Plot:
Reunited by the death of a college friend, three divorced women seek revenge on the husbands who left them for younger women. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations more
User Comments:
Instructive - maybe not; hilarious - definitely! more (104 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Bette Midler ... Brenda Cushman

Goldie Hawn ... Elise Elliot

Diane Keaton ... Annie Paradis

Maggie Smith ... Gunilla Garson Goldberg

Dan Hedaya ... Morton Cushman

Sarah Jessica Parker ... Shelly Stewart

Stockard Channing ... Cynthia Swann Griffin

Victor Garber ... Bill Atchison

Stephen Collins ... Aaron Paradis

Elizabeth Berkley ... Phoebe LaVelle

Marcia Gay Harden ... Dr. Leslie Rosen

Bronson Pinchot ... Duarto Feliz
Jennifer Dundas ... Chris Paradis

Eileen Heckart ... Catherine MacDuggan
Philip Bosco ... Uncle Carmine Morelli
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Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated PG for thematic elements, some mild language and sensuality.
Runtime:
103 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
When the three ladies meet after the funeral, they are talking about Elise's plastic surgery. Elise says (Elise doesn't say this; Brenda says the line when asking Elise how much surgery she got done, and she asks if she just got a little or the full enchilada), "I got the whole enchilada." This line was originally "I got the whole Ivana," but was changed once Ivana Trump was cast in a cameo. more
Goofs:
Audio/visual unsynchronized: In the scene after Cynthia's funeral, when the girls are at the restaurant table, Brenda asks Elise about her surgery. When Brenda says "...the full enchilada", it's dubbed from "...the full Ivana" (as seen in the trailer), referencing Ivana Trump. more
Quotes:
Brenda: Where's Shelly?
Morty: In the car.
Brenda: Glove compartment?
Morty: Trunk.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in "Loose Women: (#13.199)" (2009) more
Soundtrack:
O Jesus, Thou Art Standing more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
17 out of 23 people found the following comment useful.
Instructive - maybe not; hilarious - definitely!, 20 November 2001
Author: Geofbob from London, England

Like Nine to Five, First Wives Club purports to be making a statement - albeit in comedy mode - about a serious feminist issue, but like that movie is simply an opportunity to portray women getting back at men who have taken advantage of them - and why not?! While the film may have little practical application to the majority of women who are "traded in" for newer models, but whose men are not as well heeled as the husbands in this film, it does provide them with 100 minutes of escapist entertainment from three great American actresses - OK Bette Midler may not be the best actress in the world but she's certainly hugely entertaining.

Midler plays one of three 60s college friends, who meet 25 years later and find that they've each been deserted - her businessman ex-hubby keeps her short of cash while buying skimpy designer dresses for his skimpy girlfriend (Sarah Jessica Parker). The other two in the triumvirate are Diane Keaton as a diffident door-mat, and Goldie Hawn as an alcoholic and facelifted filmstar. But this is one movie where there is no doubt about the characters undergoing an "arc" during its course, and hardly anyone emerges unaltered. Along the way, there are lots of laughs, a few tears, and an unforgettable rendition of You Don't Own Me. Elsewhere on IMDb, some ungenerous souls have used the word hysterical to describe this movie; hysterically funny is nearer the mark.





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