I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

In this immoral little farce the women feel free to indulge in their fantasies. When Marge is propositioned by her brother-in-law she says talk to Sonny about it. Then when Sonny tells Sugar that it's alright as long as it's okay with Marge, she feels like it doesn't matter and goes ahead. When the stranger comes to town she is smitten with him like half of the other town's women. Seems like their men don't have what it takes to satisfy them. Marge has a free-wheeling mother who does whatever she pleases, and she doesn't want her to be a servant to anyone. Her mother is rather surprised by her amorous pursuit of the new stud in town. This is quite a situation given that it's in 1939, but this is Australia, known for the unexpected. When Marge is pining away for this stranger Sonny get defensive, and feels betrayed. But they are true soul mates and neither them have scruples. At the end Sonny has sent Sugar packing, and brought his Marge back home.

What a heart-rendering plot! Throughout the movie, I kept wondering if there was the faintest chance that any close-knit community under the stars harbored secrets similar to the plot...Both brothers scruples, Marge's sexual appetite and the manner in which the town takes everything in step...It is sickeningly-refreshing to see this small town's women enjoy their sexuality as much as they do...To think all it takes is one male catalyst (Sam Neill's character, Neville) to turn women loose! Every guy's fantasy role...How am I to imagine the emotional toll this movie shoot took both on Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown (married to each other)?...Wow!

After seeing this movie, I was prompted to write and comment, once again, about the roles that husbands are afforded in almost every movie w/ a love triangle. This film offers a stark illustration of this fact. For the sake of the story, we are asked to suspend disbelief and watch as every husband portrayed in the film, is cuckolded- & offers no instance of protest, or resistance. So let me get this straight- the " GOOD WIFE" in the film, is a lustful, amoral character- who presumably destroys her marriage to pursue a worthless cad. By itself, this isn't an unbelievable tale. My pet peeve however, is how the women's spouses are portrayed, in movies of this sort. The B. Brown character not only doesn't get angry, he offers his wife to his brother, excuses her behavior w/ the barman, and willingly, immediately, and w/out reservation, offers "instant forgiveness" to his cheating wife- another predictable staple for this character. The other husband in the movie who catches his wife w/ another man, reacts the same way. In other words, every husband is weak, ineffectual & too inadequate, to show anger, towards their straying wives! No, the women are all capable of destructive actions, but the husbands?- their reaction to these actions, is reserved, measured, & minimal at best. This character is essential to filmmakers, but is so prevalent, that it's becoming a cliché' within itself! The first film that actually offers a sympathetic, strong portrayal of a betrayed man, which by the way is the usual portrayal given to betrayed wives, will be a revelation. An actual male character who doesn't whine & weakly accepts his wife's cheating. One who decides that SHE is not worthy of him- would be a first! Instead we are faced w/ the same character- gutless, weak, no balls, and willing to accept any & all humiliations, for the sake of fantasy. By no means am I one of these right-wing, "defenders of families" freaks- but it's not hard to see that the portrayal of husbands in these movies, would give one pause. What reality are these filmmakers living in- & maybe, just once, they'll join ours!

'The Good Wife' is for those who like films that focus on an obscure little corner of the world and look at the feelings and foibles of the people therein. This time the camera is aimed at a small Australian town in 1939, where Marge Hills (Rachel Ward) feels that life is passing her by despite her work as a midwife and marriage to a loving husband. Nothing exciting ever happens to her, she thinks, and her attempts to make something happen get her into all sorts of small-town trouble.Rachel Ward is such a beauty and has such a presence that I probably would have been content to watch her putter around the kitchen for ninety minutes at this stage of her career. Anyone familiar with Bryan Brown's work will not be surprised to hear that he is excellent in the role of Sonny, the husband. Steven Vider is also very good as Sugar, Sonny's younger brother, a youth so callow that he asks his brother if it's OK to sleep with his wife. Sam Neill is the newcomer to town whose attention Marge tries so desperately to get. A lot of people would describe this as a "little" film but I got more enjoyment out of it than many of its bigger brethren.