The defence The Popcorn Loyalist
“It owes the canon nothing.”
The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.
Back to trending 
The First Wives Club
Comedy · 1996
After years of helping their hubbies climb the ladder of success, three mid-life Manhattanites have been dumped for a newer, curvier model. But the trio is determined to turn their pain into gain. They come up with a cleverly devious plan to hit their exes where it really hurts - in the wallet!
Movie details
The First Wives Club
“Don't get mad. Get everything.”
1996 Comedy 1h 42m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
6.5 / 10
59.6K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
50 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
59 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
6.7 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
After years of helping their hubbies climb the ladder of success, three mid-life Manhattanites have been dumped for a newer, curvier model. But the trio is determined to turn their pain into gain. They come up with a cleverly devious plan to hit their exes where it really hurts - in the wallet!
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The First Wives Club?
For the defence
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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St. Vincent
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A young boy whose parents just divorced finds an unlikely friend and mentor in the misanthropic, bawdy, hedonistic, war veteran who lives next door.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Hugh Wilson
Written by
Robert Harling
Goldie Hawn
Elise Elliot Atchison
Bette Midler
Brenda Morelli Cushman
Diane Keaton
Annie MacDuggan Paradis
Maggie Smith
Gunilla Garson Goldberg
Sarah Jessica Parker
Shelly Stewart
Dan Hedaya
Morton Cushman
Stockard Channing
Cynthia Swann Griffin
Court is in session
Put The First Wives Club on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”
It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.