Lee + AA (did anyone notice?)

Elliot is all about Elliot. He feels guilty because he doesn't feel more guilty. He is less concerned with how much it would hurt Hannah if she found out he was "banging her sister," than with how he would feel if he got caught.

Like many women whose husbands are being unfaithful, Hannah is confused and perplexed by all the mixed signals he's giving her. Yes, she pressures him to please tell her what is wrong, asking (paraphrasing) "is it me? Is it our marriage? Are you hurting in some way, can I help you?," but who can blame her? When she tells him she has enormous needs of her own he barks at her that he "can't see them, and neither can Holly or Lee." When Hannah, unaware that he is having an affair with Lee, says she wants to have a child with him (in addition to the other children from previous marriages) he flies off the handle. And of course, when she wonders aloud if he is having an affair he overreacts, accusing her of almost wanting it to be true to confirm her suspicions.

Hannah always puts her own needs behind everyone else's. She probably married Elliot because she felt he needed her, not the other way around. Hannah brokers the fights between their parents; lends money to the frazzled, hyped-up Holly -- but more importantly, gives Holly constructive advice which she usually rejects. Lee doesn't come out so directly and ask Hannah for advice, but clearly she needs some direction in her life. Lee just tends to sort of drift into things without much thought; her affair with Elliot is just the latest example. Like Elliot, she pays lip service to the idea of not wanting to betray Hannah, but neither of them has the moral courage not to.

So Holly, Lee and Elliot are all so wrapped up in themselves they cannot see Hannah for who she is, plus they're all resentful of Hannah and she knows it, even if she isn't sure why. Hannah is the rock of the family and the movie -- she is so selfless (for better or worse) that she is the only major character who doesn't have a voiceover.

In the end, though, neither Elliot nor Lee is beyond redemption. When Lee finally gets to a place where she can tell Elliot that he loves Hannah much more than he knows, he has come to a place where he can see that she is right. We're left with the suggestion that he did not find this out too late.