The First Wives Club (1996) Goldie Hawn Elise Elliot Atchison Bette Midler Brenda Morelli Cushman Diane Keaton Annie MacDuggan Paradise Maggie Smith Gunilla Garson Goldberg Sarah Jessica Parker Shelly Dan Hedaya Morty Cushman Stockard Channing Cynthia Swann Griffin Victor Garber Bill Atchison Stephen Collins Aaron Paradise Elizabeth Berkley Phoebe LaVelle Marcia Gay Harden Dr Leslie Rosen Bronson Pinchot Duarto Feliz Jennifer Dundas Chris Paradise Eileen Heckart Catherine MacDuggan Philip Bosco Uncle Carmine Rob Reiner Dr Morris Packman James Naughton Gil Griffin Ari Greenberg Jason Cushman Directed by: Hugh Wilson Produced by: Ezra Swerdlow, Adam Schroeder, Scott Rudin Marriage has turned into a crash dive for Brenda Morelli Cushman, Elise Elliot Atchison and Annie MacDuggan Paradise. These three well-heeled Manhattanites were chums during their college days, but they all took different paths. Brenda married an electronics-emporium magnate, Elise became a film star, Annie an Upper East Side housewife. They all helped their husbands build up hugely successful businesses. Now they're reunited by catastrophe: Each has just been callously dumped by her husband in exchange for a younger, sexier "trophy wife." There are sharks swimming around Manhattan, and most of them are pumped with silicone and squeezed into Spandex. Smarting from the pain, Brenda, Elise and Annie join forces and concoct a plan to exact the most exquisitely bitter vengeance upon their "exes." War has been declared, and it will claim some of Manhattan's poshest boardrooms and bedrooms as its battlefields. The First Wives Club is now in session. These are three ladies you do not want to mess with. ===================== Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, and Diane Keaton prove that revenge is a dish best served cold. Former college buddies, they reunite at the funeral of a dear friend who took a swan dive onto Fifth Avenue. All three discover they share the same unhappy history of husbands who dove into middle-age by dumping them for trophy wives. Forming a warring triumvirate, they decide to get even, and along the way remind themselves of long-forgotten capabilities. The action gets a little too "wacky" at times, but the gals are great. Portraying an aging actress, Hawn is sometimes a little too flamboyant, but there is much fun to be had in her flashiness, especially when she pokes fun at Tinseltown and her persona. Instead of her usual brashness, Midler stretches herself and shows us a woman who is not just unhappy, but also deeply sorrowful. Not that she isn't quick with a wisecrack, but her expressive face alone tells the story of her marriage. As the repressed and guilt-ridden spouse of a self- involved ad executive, Keaton finds her anger, and her voice, when her psychiatrist (Marcia Gay Harden) oversteps ethical boundaries. Watching Keaton grow from an ineffectual homemaker into a powerful businessperson reminds us that it has been far too long since she has done a comedy. Director Hugh Wilson smartly chose supporting players who each brought something unique to the film. However, he does not maintain the first hour's effervescent humor throughout the film, as the ending is weakened by a softening of the wives' resolve.