The Butcher's Wife

The Butcher's Wife
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Terry Hughes
Written by	Ezra Litwak Marjorie Schwartz
Produced by	Lauren Lloyd Wallis Nicita
Starring	Demi Moore Jeff Daniels George Dzundza Frances McDormand Margaret Colin Mary Steenburgen
Cinematography	Frank Tidy
Edited by	Donn Cambern
Music by	Michael Gore Steven Jae Johnson
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	October 25, 1991 (1991-10-25)
Running time	107 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$9,689,816

The Butcher's Wife is a 1991 American romantic comedy film, directed by Terry Hughes and starring Demi Moore and Jeff Daniels.

The film concerns a clairvoyant woman (Moore) thinks that she's met her future husband, whom she has seen in her dreams, and who is a butcher in New York City. 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.

Plot

As a clairvoyant, Marina awaits signs from beyond that her true love, whoever he may be, is waiting for her, somewhere. When New York butcher Leo Lemke shows up on the tiny North Carolina island of Ocracoke, where Marina lives, she is convinced that he is the man predestined to be her husband. After the wedding, Marina moves into Leo's blue-collar neighborhood, where she successfully commiserates with such eccentrics as withdrawn teenager Eugene, frustrated singer Stella Keefover, unlucky-in-love actress Robyn Graves, over analytical psychiatrist Dr. Alex Tremor, and closeted lesbian dress shop clerk Grace. But what Marina fails to grasp about her powers is that she can see the future of strangers far more clearly than her own, and love is unpredictable no matter how many ways you have to look for it.

The film makes use of several phenomena that can be described as occult portents that meeting a love match is imminent or occult tools to help strengthen, seal or bring about love, luck and happiness. These include the sudden "finding" of a ring that would serve as a wedding band, falling stars with twin tails, zig-zagged rainbows and found objects symbolizing a change in the finder's path that will cause it to cross with their beloved.

Cast

• Demi Moore 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 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 website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 24%, based on 17 reviews, and an average rating of 4.5/10. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

Janet Maslin of The New York Times 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)

External links

• The Butcher's Wife at IMDb
• The Butcher's Wife at AllMovie
• The Butcher's Wife at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Butcher's Wife at Box Office Mojo