Am I the only person who felt sorry for Annette Bening's character? Am I the only person who despised her husband, with his coldness and obvious disinterest in his wife and in their lives? Of course things might seem "harder" or more complicated in a marriage of 29 years, versus a 1 year affair. The people in the affair will only come together for the good times, the fun. The couple in the marriage will have lived more life together, with bills to pay, problems to arise and be handled, life's "stuff" to contend with.
How is there any comparison?
Of course the affair will present the most fun, will be the easiest. How is he brave by choosing this path? And why is no one acknowledging how utterly selfish it was for him to pull his son into the chaos and brokenness he had created (by having him come to town just to pick up the pieces of the mess HE'D CREATED)?
And, to take the cake, a reviewer said that the other woman "respectfully" stood her ground. What ground was that?! Exactly what ground does she stand on? She's the mistress, there is no respect in that. She has no grounds to stand on.
I definitely saw things much differently than the reviews I've read. In fact, I was so infuriated with the monotonous, dreariness of the husband, and the wife's saddening attempt to revive and rejuvenate the marriage (a worthy and necessary goal after 29 years of doing anything!), that I paused the movie (36 minutes in) to read reviews. I was shocked by the sympathy expressed for the husband. Am I the only one who saw this? Am I the only person who would also have a problem with not talking in my marriage, with accepting that something is missing without trying to find out what and fix it?
The world is upside down, anytime one can watch a movie where a husband decides the shinier object is more fun and is thus brave to move on to it, pulling in his son to carry the load he leaves, and causing his wife to be criticized in his wake (because she didn't calmly handle the betrayal that occured), there is a problem. Side note: Does he not think the shinier object will one day also have arguments with him, or complaints, or that she'll think he does something not to her preference? Or does he erroneously think she and he will fit perfectly? No one does. And whomever you're with, you're going to have things you have to contend with, because no one is perfect and when 2 imperfect people get together, there will be imperfections.
This movie illustrates to me why divorce and multiple marriages (as well as affairs) are so rampant. We don't even seem to understand right from wrong anymore, and assign blame to victims and sympathy to perpetrators. It is why those with no talent are the wealthiest in our nation and those with talent can't seem to make ends meet.Â
Sigh. I am turning this movie off and moving on to a good book. I have lost enough brain cells and produced enough cortisol for the day.