Let's Kill Ward's Wife

A shame really as the film started very ok. It then got stuck between worlds of a thriller and dark comedy but in the end didnt do enough of either to put it anywhere, so just ended up in Blah limbo.

Greetings again from the darkness. What would it take for you and your buddies to talk about killing someone? Perhaps you already have … you know, in a joking way … maybe while playing golf together. That's what happens to Ronnie (James Carpinello), David (Patrick Wilson), and Tom (Scott Foley). A couple of cracks about wanting to kill Stacy (Dagmara Dominczyk), wife of their buddy Ward (Donald Faison), leads to further discussion and an uncomfortable google search.

Since all that is pretty gloomy, you should know that this is a comedy. It's a very dark comedy (given the title) that is filled with a stream of one-liners and some outlandish behavior from a group of people who will never be considered criminal masterminds. On top of that, it comes across as some kind of psycho-sexual, spouse-swapping filmmaking project for first time feature writer/director Scott Foley.

Let's see if we can connect the dots: In real life, Foley is married to Marika Dominczyk (she plays David's wife in the movie) who is also the real life sister of Dagmara Dominczyk (Ward's wife) who is the real life wife of Patrick Wilson. James Carpinello's real life wife is Amy Acker (she plays Tom's wife), and we also get the real life daughter of Carpinello/Acker and the real life son of Foley/Marika … plus the younger sister of Marika and Dagmara. That's more crossover than most community theater productions!

You may recognize Scott Foley from TV's "Felicity" (or many other projects), and this is his first feature film as writer/director. The cast is obviously having a great time, and in that manner, reminds a bit of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (Joss Whedon's 2012 version), which was also cast with a group of close friends (including Amy Acker, who also stars here). There are also similarities to VERY BAD THINGS, the 1998 film that brought out the worst traits of its characters. However as stated, this one is filled with offbeat humor and can best be described as black comedy. We even get Nicolette Sheridan as an on-the-prowl aging actress.

Some excellent films are referenced here, including: PULP FICTION, FARGO, SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, and TRAINING DAY. Clearly this film is not near the level of any of those, but they are used to keep the dialogue amongst friends presented in a grounded way for such an outrageous premise. This one won't make you think much – and please don't let it convince you that murder is a good idea. It might, however, generate a few laughs, and that's always welcome.

Written, directed, and starring.... scott foley. Uh, oh... not usually a good sign. There's technically nothing wrong with the film, it's just SO slowwwwww. Script needed jazzing up. More fun, more jokes, more action..... something. It's a good premise; ward's wife is a shrew. Mean, jealous, controlling. So his golf buddies talk about knocking her off. But would they actually do it?? And if they do, how would they get rid of the body? Long pauses. And a long un-necessary scene where the couples all talk on the phone, as they are settling into bed. We need less talking, more action. And all these people are awful parents.. saying and doing terrible things in front of their young kids! I guess that was part of the humor. The main problem with this is that it isn't sure what it wants to be. I think it needed more of a dramatic conclusion. It just kind of wanders off at the end. You'll know don faison from scrubs. And the wives are the dominczyk sisters. A family thing. It's okay.

Scott Foley did a fine job creating this lighthearted murder story and each actor pulls it all together. This is a fun but not so funny story of a group of close friends finding themselves involved in an accidental on purpose murder. Now they must dispose the evidence and here is found the brilliance of the story.

Maybe how the friends pull it all together isn't quite believable but you find yourself wanting them to get by with it - for reasons you will see at movies start.

It's an adventure, murder, mystery, and scheming story that is sure to keep you watching. My only disappointment was the ending at the bar - did I miss an important detail?

Slightly dark but charmingly funny with a great cast and dialogue. I love Scott Foley and as soon as I saw that he directed and wrote the screenplay I decided to check it out and I'm glad I did. I won't go into spoiler territory other than to say murder as never been so charming and breezy. Definitely worth checking out.