Although The First Wives Club intended to serve as a celebration of female friendship, a cut love story was unfortunately detrimental to the film's plot. In one of Diane Keaton's best roles, Annie MacDuggan, who has been a pushover throughout the film, finds the strength to reject her ex-husband, while Bette Midler's character, the sardonic Brenda Morelli-Cushman, has the grace to forgive your ex in one of Midler's best films. Goldie Hawn's character, actress Elise Eliot, is focused on her career until a new, younger lover is mentioned in a line at the end.
The younger lover was supposed to be played by Jon Stewart, who actually filmed several scenes that had to be cut due to weather (via Vogue). The First Wives Club It would have ended on a much stronger note if Elise's love interest had been kept in the film. Elise, Brenda, and Annie have so much drive in every other aspect of their lives that it would have been rewarding to see Elise find a fresh start with a new man.
The First Wives Club would have been better if it hadn't cut Elise's love interest
Goldie Hawn's character would have a touching full-circle moment
The First Wives Club is about Elise, Brenda and Annie owning the present and looking to the future, but when it comes to romance, they tend to look back. It would have been deeply satisfying to see either woman begin an entirely new romance, free of baggage. The First Wives Club would have been stronger if Elise's love interest had been shown on screen instead of being mentioned in a passing line. Elise's arc is focused on her career rather than romance, as she turns to theater, where her talent is more important than her looks.
However, if Jon Stewart's role hadn't been cut, this would have been a perfect moment for Elise, as her husband left her for a woman so young that she was actually prison bait. Although Annie and Brenda's love life dates back to their husbands, it would have been powerful and groundbreaking for The First Wives Club to show Elise having an exciting work and love life, especially with a younger man, considering a 2020 film trend features romance between an older woman and a younger man.
First Wives Club's Love Interest Would Have Offset Another Character's Story
This character returns to her criminal and cruel ex-husband
If The First Wives Club If Elise’s new lover had been in the film, it would have made up for the film’s most egregious ending: Brenda getting back together with her ex-husband, Morton “Morty” Cushman (Dan Hedaya). Throughout the film, Morty is impartial to Brenda's post-breakup financial difficulties, even though her son is living with her. He allows his new girlfriend, Shelley Stewart (Sarah Jessica Parker), to make cruel comments about Brenda's body in front of her, without him defending Brenda. Plus, Morty's electronics business is only a success because he's cooking the books.
Brenda, who has been so brave and willing to call out Morty for his hypocrisy, somehow has the “happy ending” of getting back together with this criminal. It's a sad regression because Morty doesn't do anything to win her back – no grand romantic gestures, not even an apology – he simply gets annoyed with Shelley and goes back to Brenda on the dance floor. If The First Wives Club Had there been more screen time for Morty to win back Brenda or Elise to find love with Jon Stewart's character, it would have been an even more powerful ending.
Source: Vogue