CINEMA: Wretch on a Sexual Rampage

As usual, conventional wisdom has it all wrong. The problem is not that they don't write good roles for women anymore; it's that they only write roles for good women. Actresses still get to suffer nobly and ignobly. They are even allowed to be brave and capable. But down-and-dirty wickedness is denied them. It's not nice.

It's all part of the new prissiness. But evil has traditionally been an equal-opportunity employer. Where would Barbara Stanwyck and the other ladies of the noir have been if their only subtext had been female victimization? Every once in a while a girl has to...