never_thirst I don't know what Margaret Atwood was thinking to allow this movie to have the same name as her book. I've always been a big fan of The Robber Bride and was so excited to learn there was a movie in the works. I am aware that the translation of book to movie isn't perfect but this movie was the worst ever. The names of the women are correct and some of the back story is correct but that is about it. I feel like I lost a good portion of my time trying to make it through this movie. This really should have been a mini-series to tell the story the way it was written.The actors for Roz, Tony, Charis and Zenia were well-chosen even though I was skeptical at first about Mary-Louise Parker. I only wish they'd had a better script to work with because this really had nothing to do with the book at all.

Sandra Kasturi I have not read Margaret Atwood's book, and after seeing this film I initially did not want to. However, I then looked up reviews and synopses of The Robber Bride, which made the novel sound infinitely more interesting than this wretched film. This adaptation is so heavy-handed and moronic that it almost makes something like Basic Instinct stand up as a paragon of subtlety and imagination. The characters are almost uniformly unlikeable, but they're not even unlikeable in any kind of interesting way! And all of them behave like complete idiots. From synopses of Atwood's novel, it would appear that the frame story in this film (that of a crime/murder investigation) doesn't even exist in the book. If that's the case, then frankly, I think Atwood should sue over this travesty. I hope, at the very least, she got a hefty paycheque. That might make up for a lot. Don't waste your valuable time on this mind-numbing excuse for cinema. Really, really, really badly written and directed. Where's Atwood's sarcasm? Her sense of humour? Her sly wit?? Lost in bad writing and bad directing. I can't even blame the actors. They're doing their best with some outrageously bad material. Speaking of actors, MUST every film made in Canada star the same subgroup of thespians? Seriously? There's a lot of untapped talent out there. Imagine if Nicole Kidman starred in 90% of the films that came out of the U.S. How believable would you find her in anything, then? Wouldn't it make you tired? But I digress. Avoid the film version of The Robber Bride at all costs. Go read the real thing instead.

simonize-1 I found myself comparing this to another psychological thriller I had seen recently - CACHE aka HIDDEN - much to the disadvantage of THE ROBBER BRIDE.The film begins with a scene that makes the viewer expect an investigation a la CSI. Instead it is a single individual investigating a team of trio of women for the possible murder of a woman they all knew in their university years. John's character and personality seems to disappear as we learn more about Zenia the possible woman and the women, Charis, Roz and Tony.None of the latter women engendered any of my sympathy, though the story argues (or does it?) that all three have been victimized by Zenia, who unerringly detects how best and how deeply the three can be hurt.I found the choice of Mary-Louise Parker interesting in that she resembled a younger, more feminine Margaret Atwood.I imagine that I missed a considerable amount of subtext because I have not read much Atwood, and as this is a fairly recent work, it very likely reiterates themes that she finds important.I edited the commercials out of the film, and was left with slightly less than 89 minutes; so I must applaud those who sat through the live broadcast of THE ROBBER BRIDE, often enduring lengthy 4 minute or longer commercial - I found it incredibly annoying to fight off the numerous pop ups, usually for forthcoming programming, to the extent that I couldn't read or digest the all important closing credits!

rps-2 I watched this movie for its two hours and have absolutely no idea what it's about. Somebody got murdered or maybe they didn't and maybe somebody did it or maybe they didn't. This brought back memories of the good old days (bad old days?) when all CBC Canadian movies were stinkers. Lately stinkers have been the exception but this confused hodge podge of trendy feminism, mind reeling flash backs and mumbled dialogue makes up for lost time. I've never found Margaret Atwood's books easy to read. This movie continues that fine Canadian tradition. It isn't easy to watch. Maybe the trendy folks at the chi chi Toronto cocktail parties will pretend they liked it. Us folks in the boonies are a little less pretentious.