Fresh
An engrossing story of the disintegration of a modern loveless marriage.
Variety Staff, Variety
Diary of a Mad Housewife
It can happen to any married woman anywhere, anytime...it happened to Tina.
1970 · 1h 35m · R
Comedy, Drama
Directed by
Frank Perry
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Diary of a Mad Housewife
Overview
Tina Balser is a bored New York housewife-mother married to Jonathan, a pompous, social-climbing lawyer who ridicules her in front of their children, criticizing everything she does or wears. She begins an affair with George Prager, a dashing, successful, and blatantly sadistic writer.
Director and cast
- Frank Perry Director
- Carrie Snodgress as Tina Balser
- Richard Benjamin as Jonathan Balser
- Frank Langella as George Prager
- Lorraine Cullen as Sylvie Balser
- Frannie Michel as Liz Balser
- Lee Addoms as Mrs. Prinz
- Peter Dohanos as Samuel Keefer
- Katherine Meskill as Charlotte Rady
- Leonard Elliott as M. Henri
- Valma as Margo
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
77%
Tomatometer
Fresh
It's an entertaining satire that disappoints only in the stereotypically limited choices it offers to the woman.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Fresh
Among the performers, Carrie Snodgress will surely receive the critical praise she deeply deserves.
Roger Greenspun, New York Times
Fresh
What makes the movie work, however, is that it's played entirely from the housewife's point of view, and that the housewife is played brilliantly by Carrie Snodgress.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
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