Last updated May 30, 2007 5:32 p.m. PT
It was probably only a matter of time before Gigi Levangie Grazer's "The Starter Wife" hit some screen, somewhere.
For the benefit of those who don't recognize the name, Levangie Grazer is the wife of successful film producer Brian Grazer. She knows a little somethin'-somethin' about Hollywood ladies who lunch and fall from grace. Wrote a few books about it, even.
Needless to say, a person could not reasonably expect a subject so tempting to remain on bookshelves unmolested for long. "The Starter Wife" came out in 2005; two summers later, USA Network is presenting it as a miniseries.
One that proves that some books should never be anything more than books.
What's riveting on the page has a tendency to transform into a bore or a mess on screens large or small. Doesn't matter if the novel's pulp or a Pulitzer Prize winner, it can stink either way. (Rent "Beloved.
" You'll see.)
Chick lit like "The Starter Wife" poses a special danger because of its disposability. This is the kind of book meant to be left on airplanes or passed along to friends with the advisement that they don't need to be returned.
There was really no need to drag Debra Messing, Joe Mantegna or Judy Davis into that pool.
Alas, they're all in, along with Miranda Otto and blatant product placement of Pond's Time Rewind overnight cream -- Pond's being the major sponsor of this six-hour summertime event.
News RSS