Guess I'm easy to please! I'm going to rate this movie five stars, something few have yet done. Call me daring, call me odd, call me a non conformist but don't call me late for dinner. Stupid, I know. Stupid and silly but that is the mood this tongue in cheek horror movie has put me in. I really, really enjoyed this movie and I highly recommend it for you optimists out there. Why the overall fairly low rating out there. I don't know. you'll have to ask them. I refuse to read their reviews and maybe kill my high. I must have been in an excellent mood because right from the beginning and by the beginning I mean the beginning credits, this movie captured me, delighted me, enthralled me. All that was missing was a kiss from you know who. No, not Bette Midler, smart alec, Nicole Kidman, although she too looked pretty good when she was, how should I say this, altered. The Story Joanna Eberhard (Kidman), a driven, overachieving television executive takes the network programing too far over the top and is canned. After recovering from a nervous breakdown, her husband, Walter Kresby (Matthew Broderick, whom I shall always think of as the ultra cool Ferris Bueller) pack up Joanna, the kids and move to the beautiful exclusive upscale Connecticut community of Stepford where life is supposed to be simple and Joanna can continue to recover. Stepford is more than simple though, it's sinister, it's creepy, it's unnatural. It's like dreading coming back from three hour lunch hour which included four margaritas and all your co-workers and your boss are standing at your desk with big smiles and warmly welcoming you back. SPOOKY! Well that's how Joanna and her friends, author Bobbie Markowitz (Bette Midler) and gay partner, Roger Bannister (Roger Bart) viewed it, SPOOKY. And all the wives were gorgeous and fully made up and dressed to the hilt at all times. Contrast this with the men who were basically average to unattractive nerds. And why do they always hang out at the Men's Club? The answer to that plus a few great laughs are at you local theater. Writers: Ira Levin (book), Paul Rudnick (screenwriter) Directed by: Frank Oz Conclusion My conclusion is this. Frank Oz's directing was masterful. The story was clever, the acting especially Kidman's was superb. Just watching her facial expressions evolve after she was fired was amazing. Even Faith Hill did a credible job with the few lines she had. Ron Bart, Jon Lovitz and Bette Midler were funny as heck and brought a breath of fresh air and the ending was a total surprise, at least to me. So what's not to like. One word of warning, this is not a creepy thriller. If you are going to this movie expecting to see something akin to the original movie, which stared Katharine Ross, don't bother. This Stepford Wives movie has a veneer of the original, at least at first but as it progresses the more you see the new Stepford Wives for what it really is, a Black Comedy.