ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, September 14, 1996           TAG: 9609170005
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: C-8  EDITION: METRO 
                                             TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW 
SOURCE: LAWRENCE VAN GELDER NEW YORK TIMES

`RICH MAN'S WIFE' IS FAIR MYSTERY

Is Josie Potenza really the dumbsel in distress she appears to be?

When first encountered in ``The Rich Man's Wife,'' she is under arrest on suspicion of murder. And why not? Her husband, Tony, has been found looking like ketchup-drenched Swiss cheese. Her lover, Jake Golden, is suffering from permanent hearing loss, as well as missing other vital signs dependent on having a bullet-free brain.

And now Cole Wilson, a creep who insinuated himself into Josie's life, is also dead of gunshot wounds (not to mention the ax slash in his shoulder) in the garage of the Potenzas' lavish California home.

So after Josie (Halle Berry) is given a Miranda warning, ``The Rich Man's Wife,'' an updated film noir written and directed by Amy Holden Jones, flashes back to unravel the dark deeds that have led Josie to the brink of wealthy widowhood.

The film owes no little debt to Alfred Hitchcock's thriller ``Strangers on a Train'' and to all those movies in which homicidal maniacs pop up unexpectedly, lone women hear creaking doors and ominous footsteps, thunderstorms erupt at convenient moments and couples who share disturbing confidences speed along dark, deserted roads while windshield wipers sweep across close-ups of their tense faces.

``Rich Man's Wife'' also owes a debt to its audience, whose credibility is sorely taxed at turning points where sensible individuals would disagree with Josie's actions.

Josie has married well, but after seven years she and Tony (Christopher McDonald), a television executive, are having affairs, and he is drinking heavily. There's still a spark of love, though, and after Josie ends her liaison with Jake (Clive Owen), Tony agrees to go off to a secluded woodland lodge to mend their marriage.

But business soon summons him away, and the angry Josie stays behind. One night at a bar fate puts her in the path of Cole Wilson (Peter Greene).

Although his eyes and body language scream ``I'm cuckoo,'' Josie manages to overlook his lunacy long enough to let him know that sometimes she wishes Tony were dead. In fact, thanks to a prenuptial agreement, Josie can realize any money from an end to her marriage only through widowhood.

After a slow start, Halle Berry becomes a plucky protagonist. McDonald and Owen furnish stalwart support, but most of the chills are provided by Greene as the deadly Cole and most of the laughs by Clea Lewis as Jake's alimony-starved ex-wife.

The Rich Man's Wife **1/2

A Hollywood Pictures release showing at the Salem Valley 8. Rated R for violence and strong language. 95 minutes.

LENGTH: Medium:   58 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  Christopher McDonald (left) and Halle Berry play a 
          married couple in ``The Rich Man's Wife.''