| Director | Susan Seidelman |
|---|---|
| Genre | comedy film, film based on literature |
| Runtime | 96 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $16 million |
| Box office | $15.4 million |
Overweight, frumpy housewife and mother Ruth Patchett attempts to please her accountant husband Bob. After Bob meets wealthy, narcissistic romance novelist Mary Fisher at a party, they begin an affair. Ruth, aware of their affair, confronts Bob while his parents are visiting for dinner, resulting in Bob leaving her and moving in with Mary. Furious, Ruth vows revenge on them both.
Ruth lists Bob's assets - representing his home, his family, his career, and his freedom, planning to cross off each one after destroying it. With Bob away at Mary's and the kids at school, she procures Mary's financial records and overloads the electricity of the house, destroying the house in an explosion. She leaves the kids with Mary and Bob and announces that she will not be returning.
Bob's second asset, his family, deteriorates, as Mary struggles with her newfound maternal role, which causes a rift in her relationship with Bob and interferes with her ability to write her newest novel. Ruth takes a job at a nursing home under the pseudonym Vesta Rose, where she befriends Francine, Mary's foul-mouthed, estranged mother, and arranges for her to return into Mary's life. She also meets nurse Hooper and gains her trust by introducing her to desserts. Ruth and Hooper start an employment agency for women rejected by society. The agency is successful, and the women Ruth helped assist in her revenge.
Olivia Honey, a young bimboish blonde, applies to the agency, is hired as Bob's secretary and begins having sex with him in his office. This causes Mary to become lonely, insecure and desperate, which makes Bob rebuff her sexual advances. When Olivia proclaims her love for Bob, he dumps and fires her. Olivia reveals to Ruth that Bob is a fraudster who steals from his clients by skimming interest off their accounts, then transferring it to his offshore account in Switzerland.
As Mary is being interviewed for a puff piece by People, Francine reveals embarrassing secrets about her that destroy her career. Olivia and Ruth hack Bob's computer to conduct an embezzlement, then report this to the IRS. Ruth also mails pictures of Bob bedding Olivia to Mary. Intent on regaining control of her life, Mary forces Bob's children and Francine to behave, then throws an elegant party with her friends. There, state troopers appear with a warrant for Bob's arrest. Bob's lawyer bribes a corrupt judge to ensure a favorable verdict and unknowingly informs Mary that Bob was stealing from her account as well. Furious, Mary leaves Bob and sells her mansion. A woman who gained employment as a court clerk via Ruth's agency repays Ruth by reassigning Bob's case to an unbiased judge. Bob is convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to prison, thus destroying his final asset: his freedom. As Bob is taken away, he realizes that his greed, selfishness and infidelity towards Ruth left him with nothing.
Sixteen months later, Ruth and their children visit Bob in prison. He is now on more amicable terms with Ruth following their divorce and looking forward to catching up with his children after his release from prison. Meanwhile, Mary relaunches her career as a more mainstream author. At a book signing for her new tell-all book, Mary signs a copy for Ruth but does not initially recognize her. Next in line after Ruth is a man whom Mary attempts to flirt with. Ruth smiles as she walks down a busy street in Manhattan, accompanied by countless women from her firm.