Search - Substitute Wife (Dol) on DVD

A Different Twist on Pioneer Life

J. Schields | Kansas Prairie | 03/04/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've owned this movie for several years. It's not a high budget crowning cinematic achievement, but hey I really liked it. It's probably closer to reality than most people could imagine given the hard lifestyle of the early pioneers. The homesteader works hard non-stop trying to carve a life for his wife and family, but his wife knows that she has something wrong inside. An Army doctor confirms her worst fear - cancer - and she doesn't have long. Concerned for her family and knowing that her children will soon need a new mother she decides to pick a wife and mother for her small children before she dies. Not an easy task given the small number of available women on the prairie and not much to offer a new wife in the first place. Newly widowed women are spoken for before their deceased hubands are fully laid to rest.
Her search draws her to town and the soiled dove community where she finds (Welch) plying her trade, worn out and looking for a way out of the oldest profession.
She's only got so much time to teach this prostitute all she will need to know to take her place. Her husband begins to gradually have feelings for the newcomer, but it's up one day and downhill the next.
No action in this one, but it's just stark reality on the prairie. More of a girl flick than a guy movie, but you realize at the end of the movie that people didn't have many choices and everyday was a test of survival."

Sweet little drama.

blondeguy10 | South Africa | 01/19/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Farrah Fawcett, Lea Thompson and Peter Weller all give excellent performances in this sweet little period drama. It's not the most taxing of stories, but has moments of genuine pathos and humour (witness Weller's imitation of an Owl/birdcalls and also highlights the hardship that the early American pioneers and settlers endured.. Farrah plays Pearl a prostitute who is brought in be a 'substitute wife' by Thompsom (as she is dying) for Weller and its interesting to watch as her character undergoes a change from brittle and hard to soft and caring.
A must have for Farrah fans and anyone who likes stories over action."