As Good As It Got

May 19, 2008
Sharpe continues her theme of women coming to terms with emotionally crippling relationships in her affirming latest (after Women on the Edge of a Nervous Breakthrough
), about three very different women who buddy up at a retreat for “suddenly single” women. Gratingly chipper Cindy Matterson has managed to forgive her cheating husband's endless affairs, but now he's dumping her for good. Meanwhile, Ann Redding, newly widowed, freshly fired and desperately broke, is mad as hell at her husband for killing himself after wiping out their bank account, while frumpy, plump and meditative Martha Danvers puts an unusual spin on “mistress” by fantasizing that she's the secret lover of a high-profile politician who is in a coma. Each woman has clearly reached a low point in her life when the invitations arrive from Betsy Spalding, who runs the retreat. Cindy, Ann and Martha mix like oil and water, but they pull together in time for a laugh-out-loud ending. Sharpe delivers a cheeky overcoming-adversity narrative that's laced with wisdom and humor.