In the movie I think Hank is referring to the time the affair began when he says "she was 30 and I was 14." The implication is that Leland was conceived shortly after and was probably born when Hank was 15. That seems to jive with what seems to be their ages during the movie: Hank is around 40 and Leland is around 25.
The interesting thing is that they carried out the affair at least until Hank was 25 and Leland's mother was 41 (we know this because Leland saw them when he was 10). Although Hank didn't cuckhold his father Henry with any more children, by age 25 (Lelands age in the story), Hank should've known better than to keep up an affair with his stepmother, but he didn't. I guess Leland figures that Hank should've left Henry's house, either by openly telling Henry that he was going legit with Leland's mother (and raising Leland as his son), or by shading out on his own and leaving her in peace to try to repair the family.
That's why Leland cooks up his revenge plot: just like Hank "stole" the wife of Hank's father Henry, Leland was planning on stealing Viv, the wife of Leland's father Hank. But Leland would do it the "right" way for Viv: he'd run away with her, instead of abandoning her to alcohol, depression, and ultimately suicide like what Hank did to Leland's mother.
However Viv decides to go by herself, and Leland develops loyalty to Hank. That's why the climax scene is so powerful: that's not Hank getting help from his "kid brother", that's Hank reconciling with his son after multiple family tragedies.
reply
share