The Rector's Wife

Movie / Show Details

Amazon.com

Lindsay Duncan’s lean yet luminous face will draw you in to the story of The Rector’s Wife. Anna Bouverie (Duncan, Rome) chafes at her limited life as a vicar’s wife in a small English town. When her husband Peter (Jonathan Coy, from the Horatio Hornblower series) is passed over for a promotion and her daughter is bullied at school, Anna gets a job at a supermarket in another town–a small act of independence that sets off gossip, domestic fights, and worse. When Anna meets another man who seems to understand her frustrations, she stumbles into an affair. The Rector’s Wife, in its broad outlines, combines a romance novel plot with feminist themes, but its real strength is the richness of the characters, both in the writing and the performances. Duncan’s performance is wonderfully three-dimensional and seemingly background character keep popping out with vivid details (Prunella Scales, Fawlty Towers, and Pam Farris, Rosemary & Thyme, have great scenes). This four-episode mini-series is sort of a British version of An Unmarried Woman–less concerned with psychology and more attuned to the social pressures of a small town, but nonetheless an engaging portrait of a woman struggling towards independence. –Bret Fetzer

Product Description

One of the most memorable British dramas of the 1990’s stars Lindsay Duncan (Rome, Under the Tuscan Sun) as a spirited woman caught in a dying marriage. Also staring Joyce Redman, Pam Ferris, and Prunella Scales. Based on the bestselling novel by Joanna Trollope. As seen on Masterpiece Theatre

Review

First rate, top notch and thoughtful show. — Broadcasting & Cable, February 26, 2007

Lovely and accomplished Lindsay Duncan’s understated, yet powerful performance makes this film one of the most memorable from the 1990s. — Exclusive Magazine, February 2007

The Rector’s Wife makes 203 minutes of engrossing viewing because of the intelligent script and excellent acting. — The Keene Sentinel, March 22, 2007