''The Butcher's Wife'' is a 1991 American
romantic comedy-drama
Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...
film directed by
Terry Hughes and starring
Demi Moore
Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After rising to prominence in the early 1980s, she became the world's highest-paid actress by 1995. List of awards and nominations received by Demi Moore, Her acc ...
and
Jeff Daniels.
The film concerns a
clairvoyant
Clairvoyance (; ) is the claimed ability to acquire information that would be considered impossible to get through scientifically proven sensations, thus classified as extrasensory perception, or "sixth sense". Any person who is claimed to ...
woman (Moore) who thinks that she's met her future husband, whom she has seen in her dreams, and who is a butcher in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. They marry and move to the city, where her powers tend to influence everyone she meets while working in the shop. Through her advice, she helps others and eventually finds the true man of her dreams in a psychiatrist (Daniels).
''The Butcher's Wife'' was a critical and commercial failure, grossing only $9 million at the box office. According to her 2019 memoir ''Inside Out'', Moore regretted starring in the film, saying she only did it to increase her fee after the success of ''
Ghost
In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...
''.
Plot
On the island of
Ocracoke, off the coast of
North Carolina island, a clairvoyant named Marina discovers a twin-tailed comet in the sky, a snow globe on shore, and a wedding band inside a fish, omens indicating she will soon find her perfect mate. After envisioning the man's smile in a dream, she assumes it belongs to Leo Lemke, a middle-aged New York City butcher visiting the island. Two days later, Leo returns to the city with his new bride, to the astonishment of his customer, Robyn Graves. After Marina recounts their whirlwind romance, Robyn wonders if she will ever be as certain about her boyfriend, psychiatrist Alex Tremor. Marina has a vision of Robyn's true love, whom the customer mistakenly believes to be Alex. That evening in the apartment across the street, Alex reacts to Robyn's sudden marriage proposal with skepticism over Marina's psychic abilities. On a nearby rooftop, aspiring young artist Eugene Kearney gazes at Marina as she looks up at the stars.
In the morning, Leo discovers the message, "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars", artistically rendered on the butcher shop window by Eugene. The artist offers to remove the message, but Marina likes it, and hires Eugene to work in the shop, despite warnings from Leo about his poor reputation. Alex appears moments later, reminding Eugene to attend his psychotherapy session, as prescribed by the boy's probation officer. Marina cuts veal chops against her husband’s wishes, and within seconds, a trendoid art patron enters asking for veal chops. Despite his amazement at Marina's prescience, Alex disapproves of the advice she gave Robyn, believing she is foolish to live by something as primitive as female intuition. While exploring her new neighborhood, Marina wanders into a dress shop and convinces dowdy choir mistress Stella Keefover to buy a flashy evening gown, as she will soon be performing in a nightclub. Realizing the impracticality of walking barefoot in the city, Marina buys a pair of shoes, for which she pays $3.50, misinterpreting shopkeeper Grace's request for $350.00. During a therapy session with Alex, Stella shocks the psychiatrist by announcing her intention to become a blues singer inspired by Marina's advice. That evening, Grace approaches Marina about the outstanding balance on the shoes, but changes her mind after the clairvoyant gives her a package of steaks, predicting the shopkeeper will soon be cooking for two.
The next day, Grace exasperates Alex by canceling weekend plans with him and Robyn, certain that she will meet her true love if she remains in the city, as Marina predicted. At the butcher shop, Leo fears that Marina may be a voodoo practitioner, after discovering a mojo given to her by elderly neighbors Molly and Gina, and a pet chicken, given to her by Eugene. At Leo's request Marina attends a session with Alex, but she convinces the psychiatrist to spend the hour rollerskating in the park. Stella gives her debut performance at Dellago's tavern, and enthralls Leo with her rendition of a song made famous by his idol, blues singer
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith (April 15, 1892 – September 26, 1937) was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Empress of the Blues" and formerly Queen of the Blues, she was t ...
. Meanwhile, Marina demonstrates her psychic ability by holding Alex's hands and recounting key moments from his childhood. Later, as they sit on Alex's roof, Marina explains that Leo is her split-apart, based on a legend told by her grandmother, Grammy D'Arbo. According to the legend, humanity consisted of hermaphroditic creatures that the gods split into individual genders, leaving each with the challenge of reclaiming their other half. Alex attributes the story to the philosopher, Plato, and argues that marriage requires a stronger foundation. Leo confesses his romantic feelings for Stella, but refuses to be unfaithful to Marina, while Alex is troubled by his attraction to Marina, and struggles to find a psychological solution.
The next day, Stella excitedly tells Marina about her evening with Leo, until she realizes he is married to her psychic advisor. Certain that her marriage was a mistake, Marina is determined to find Leo a new wife. Leo assumes Marina is losing her mind and blames Alex for her behavior. Late that night, Marina awakens Alex to say he was the man she saw in her dream. He argues that Marina is merely getting revenge on Leo for having an affair, not realizing that she is unaware of her husband's budding romance. Her mind clouded with anger, Marina returns to work the following day and falsely accuses Eugene of stealing. She later apologizes and refers him to the art patron, assuring him that she will launch his career.
At their next session, Alex encourages Stella to pursue a romance with Leo and while the butcher is happy with this development, he is furious at Alex for meddling in his personal life. When Alex confronts Marina, blaming her for disrupting the community, she accuses him of lacking the courage to understand the world beyond his textbooks. Marina apologizes to Leo for their failed marriage and returns to her island. Alex seeks emotional support from Grace and discovers that Robyn is her new lover. Days pass, and after seeing a twin-tailed comet in the sky, Alex travels to Ocracoke where he is reunited with Marina. Months later, Alex and Marina celebrate their wedding at Dellago's and Eugene opens his own art studio.
Cast
*
Demi Moore
Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After rising to prominence in the early 1980s, she became the world's highest-paid actress by 1995. List of awards and nominations received by Demi Moore, Her acc ...
as Marina Lemke
*
Jeff Daniels as Dr. Alex Tremor
*
George Dzundza as Leo Lemke
*
Mary Steenburgen as Stella Keefover
*
Frances McDormand as Grace
*
Margaret Colin as Robyn Graves
*
Max Perlich as Eugene
*
Miriam Margolyes as Gina
*
Christopher Durang
Christopher Ferdinand Durang (January 2, 1949 – April 2, 2024) was an American playwright known for works of outrageous and often absurd comedy. His work was especially popular in the 1980s, though his career seemed to get a second wind in th ...
as Mr. Liddle
*
Luis Avalos as Luis
*
Helen Hanft as Molly
*
Elizabeth Lawrence as Grammy D'Arbo
*
Diane Salinger as Trendoid
Reception
On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 28%, based on 18 reviews, and an average rating of 4.6/10. Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data.
Background
Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.
Janet Maslin of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' wrote "Too much of the film is spent matching up lovers who must almost literally get their stars uncrossed in order to find happiness. But a lot of it is enjoyably buoyant, even when it's several shades too broad."
Awards and nominations
1991 Golden Raspberry Awards
One nomination:
* Worst Actress (Demi Moore)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butcher's Wife, The
1991 romantic comedy films
1991 films
American fantasy comedy films
Films set in North Carolina
Films shot in New York (state)
Films shot in North Carolina
Lesbian-related films
Paramount Pictures films
American romantic comedy films
Films directed by Terry Hughes (director)
1990s English-language films
1990s American films
Outer Banks in fiction
English-language romantic comedy films