Crimes
- Blowing the opportunity to comment incisively on the backlash against feminism
- Solidifying the reputation of screenwriter Paul Rudnick as a glib mechanical gag machine
- Regularly killing the comic momentum so stars Nicole Kidman and Matthew Broderick can hold painfully earnest conversations about the state of their marriage
- Combining comedy and horror in a way that detracts from both
- Defender
Director Frank Oz - Tone Of Commentary
Jittery, nervous. Oz clears his throat anxiously and stammers throughout, and he speaks as much about what was cut as what actually made it into the film. He repeatedly cites gags that were eliminated and scenes that were shortened because preview audiences grew restless, which sounds like an implicit acknowledgment that much of the comedy just didn't work. - What Went Wrong
What went right? Oz puts a brave face on his filmmaking experiences, but the commentary quickly becomes the story of a desperate director trying to salvage a disjointed mess after disastrous previews necessitated re-shoots and frantic editing. Many scenes and an entire subplot were cut or drastically edited, ostensibly to move the story along. An elaborate opening sequence was replaced, as was an original ending so saccharine that Oz says it almost made him vomit. New scenes were added as late as a month and a half before the film's theatrical release. - Comments On The Cast
"I think the actors all hate me now," Oz says semi-jokingly, in reference to a square-dance scene that took days to film but was drastically cut down after it bored preview audiences. It took two Cosmopolitans to loosen Faith Hill up enough to get her to feign orgasmic rapture. Oz describes Bette Midler as the film's "comic relief," though comic relief isn't generally deemed necessary in a successful comedy. Oz had to cut an elaborate special-effects sequence in which Kidman discovers Midler's various robotic components, because Kidman went for drama rather than comedy in the scene—a puzzling choice for a broad satire. - Inevitable Dash Of Pretension
Oz insists that the film ultimately chronicles the strengthening and triumph of "a marriage in conflict." - Commentary In A Nutshell
"This scene in the hospital was originally meant to be much funnier," Oz admits, echoing a recurring theme in the commentary.
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