She-Devil

Ruth Patchett is a housewife who has spent years supporting her husband Bob's career while raising their two children. When Bob begins an affair with Mary Fisher, a wealthy and famous romance novelist, he leaves Ruth behind. Rather than accept the situation, Ruth sets out to take revenge, targeting the life her husband has built with Mary and dismantling the things he values most. Fay Weldon's novel "The Life and Loves of a She-Devil" provides the source material.

Susan Seidelman directed the film, her third feature after Smithereens and Desperately Seeking Susan, and she also produced it with Jonathan Brett. Barry Strugatz and Mark R. Burns wrote the screenplay. Meryl Streep plays Mary Fisher and Roseanne Barr plays Ruth, with Ed Begley Jr. as Bob, Linda Hunt as Hooper, Sylvia Miles as Mrs. Fisher and Elisebeth Peters as Nicolette Patchett. The credited cast runs to 46 performers.

Released in December 1989, the film had a budget of 20 million US dollars and took about 15 million worldwide, so it did not recover its costs at the box office. On IMDb it holds a rating of 5.8 from around 21,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6 out of 10 from 441 votes. A critics' rating of 4.9 out of 10 from 25 reviews places it below the audience scores on both platforms.